80 



(6) As regards the quality of the inilk, there does not seem 

 to be any advantage whatever, on the average, from using 

 concentrated food on pasture of the description employed 

 in these experiments. (Tables XXIII., XXIY., XXVII., 

 and XXVIII.) The quality of milk is mainly dependent upon 

 the character of the cows, and, provided the animals receive 

 adequate nourishment, no increase in the ration is likely to 

 affect the quality to any appreciable extent. (See also Offer- 

 ton Bulletin I.) 



(7) It is not to be assumed that concentrated food given 

 to cows on grass necessarily causes an increase in the live- 

 weight of the cows, and that what is not recovered in the 

 milk is always, even partially, recovered in this form, as is 

 undoubtedly the case when cows are indoors. Cows receiving 

 concentrated food under these conditions may, on occasions, 

 actually lose more weight than those which receive none. 

 .(Tables XXV. and XXIX.) 



(8) On the principal point under discussion, viz., the effect 

 of an extra allowance of food on the quantity and quality of 

 milk generally, these experiments confirm those previously 

 -carried out at Offerton, and show that, on the average, whether 

 cows are indoors or on pasture, provided the cows receive 

 enough food to keep them in a thriving condition, there is no 

 advantage, having regard to profit, in giving them more than 

 this. Presumably, when cows are fed on fairly good grass in 

 the summer, they do not require much additional artificial 

 food, and when such is supplied, it is at a loss as far as the 

 milk is concerned. Confirmation is also given to the conclu- 

 sion previously formed that no addition to the food could 

 prevent, except temporarily, the falling off in the milk yield 

 as the lactation period advances, and there is nothing in these 

 results which makes it necessary to modify the suggestion 

 made in connection with the feeding experiments described in 

 the Offerton Bulletin I., that, in general, the most economical 

 method of feeding dairy cows would be to make the amount 



