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AGRICULTURE FOR BEGINNERS 



SECTION XLVIII MILK, CREAM, CHURNING, 

 AND BUTTER 



Milk. Milk is, as you know, nature's first food for 

 mammals. This is because milk is a model food: it con- 

 tains water to slake thirst, ash to make bone, protein to 

 make flesh and muscle, fat and sugar to keep the body 

 warm and to furnish energy. 



The Different Kinds of Milk, (i) Whole, or unskimmed, 

 milk, (2) skimmed milk, (3) buttermilk, are too familiar 

 to need description. When the cow is just fresh, milk is 

 called colostrum. This colostrum is rich in the very food 

 that the baby calf needs. After the calf is a few days old, 

 colostrum changes to what is commonly known as milk. 



The following table shows the composition of each of 

 the different forms of milk. 



A noticeable fact in this table is that skimmed milk 

 differs from unskimmed mainly in the withdrawal of the 

 fat. Hence, if calves are fed on skimmed milk, some food, 

 like corn meal, should be given them to take the place of 

 the fat withdrawn. The calf cannot thrive on skimmed 



