FOOD AND MILK 187 



from mangels had 28 Ibs. carrots per day substituted, 

 and it was found that the improved colour of the butter 

 was evident in two to three weeks. 



Cabbages and swedes both yield a fairly good 

 coloured butter. 



The feeding of an excessive quantity of turnips per 

 day (112 Ibs.) does not appear from Dr Lauder's report 

 to have either increased the proportion of water in milk, 

 or decreased the percentage of fat. 



Dr Crowther states in a report on the variation of 

 chemical composition of butter (1907), that "easily 

 fermentable foods like grass, forage crops, and roots, 

 appear to increase the proportion of volatile (fatty) 

 acids, which give butter its peculiar flavour." 



Certain root crops, viz., turnips, swedes, and cabbages, 

 when fed in fairly large quantities, impart what is 

 called a " turnipy flavour" to the milk, butter, etc., which 

 is certainly not desirable. In order to avoid this defect, 

 it is usually sufficient if the following precautions are 

 observed : 



(a) Feed all such foods in moderate quantity only. 

 (&) They should be fed immediately after, and not 



before the cows have been milked. 

 (<:) Decaying cabbage or turnip leaves, etc., should 



be removed from the cowhouse each day. 



Concentrates. The general effect is to push the 

 milk yield to the maximum. Dry concentrates tend 

 to improve the quality, and concentrates fed in the 

 sloppy condition (sometimes called crowdy) tend to 

 improve the quantity ; but these results appear to be 

 of a more or less temporary character, and are much 

 more marked in the early than in the later part of the 

 lactation periods. 



