176 DOMESTIC ANIMALS, DAIRYING, ETC. 



All these things must be borne in mind by the feeder who would 

 be successful. When buying, buy wisely. Buy either standard 

 goods, the quality of which may be judged pretty accurately, or in- 

 sist on guarantees. Avoid the materials which are marked down be- 

 cause they are slightly below grade. Usually the reduction in price 

 is by no means large enough, and having accepted the goods with the 

 statement that they are damaged or deficient, there is no redress. 



Of course it must be remembered that certain products are ex- 

 empted from the provisions of the law, as stated in the opening pages 

 of this bulletin. As to the others, the Station expects to do its duty 

 in the matter. In the fertilizer inspection it has been found that the 

 desire to stand well in the published results of the inspection has 

 been an important factor in causing a careful attention to legal pro- 

 visions. At the same time, those who find it necessary to purchase 

 feeding stuffs should remember that they can largely assist in deter- 

 mining the extent to which the law is obeyed. If they refuse to buy 

 foods not properly marked or for which no guaranteed analysis can 

 e furnished, when under the law such should be furnished, dealers 

 will not handle such goods ; and when dealers refuse to handle a par- 

 ticular brand, the manufacturer will be obliged to comply with the 

 law to protect his interests. (N. J. B. 153.) 



Purchase of Commercial Feeding Stuffs. A well-managed 

 dairy farm should produce all of the coarse fodder, in form of corn 

 fodder or stover, hay and ensilage, which is needed for the stock, 

 and, excepting under unusual conditions, should also supply an 

 abundance of starchy food, such as corn meal and in some cases oats 

 and barley, for feeding purposes. These the farmer should be able 

 to produce in abundance. But in order to feed them without wa.-to 

 and also to supply a deficiency in them, it is almost always advisable 

 or necessary, in the absence of clover, alfalfa, or other leguminous 

 crops, to buy feeds rich in digestible protein; considerably richer 

 in it than corn meal. (N. J. B. 115.) 



Best Week in a Cow's Lactation Period. It is often of much im- 

 portance to know at what time in a cow's lactation she is liable to 

 make her best record. Nearly all of the associations of our improved 

 dairy breeds favor the animals making large milk or butter records. 

 In some cases certain fixed standards are set, as, for example, in the 

 American Jersey Cattle Club Association where fourteen pounds or 

 over of butter is required to admit animals to what is known as the 

 tested list. 



In looking over the herd records, it was found that a great 

 variation existed as to the best week of lactation. This variation was 

 not only among certain individual cows but it also existed with the 

 same cow from year to year. In order to get reliable data it was 

 quite evident a large number of records would be required to over- 

 come the varying influence and find a fair average. Out of this large 

 number of carefully compiled records the following data and results 

 are drawn. It was found that nine-tenths of the cows made their 

 best records during the first ten weeks of lactation and that over one- 

 half made their best records during the first month. The first week 



