1890.] PUBLIC DOCUI^IENT — No. 4. 127 



say sixty-five or seventy degrees. You probably will find 

 that the cows are divided ; some will prefer the cold water, 

 and some will prefer the warm. We do not warm the water 

 for our cows. It gets down pretty well towards freezing, 

 but we never have anchor-ice in it, because it is in the barn. 

 I see that at stations where the experiment has been tried 

 with the utmost care, giving cows water at the freezing point 

 for weeks, and then changing to water at from sixty-five to 

 seventy degrees, they find very little diflerence in the prod- 

 uct of the cows. 



Mr. Peterson. Do you think that in the production of 

 milk anything is gained by scalding or wetting the grain ? 



Professor Cooke. I suppose it is rather late to discuss 

 the question of scalding feed. I think it has been pretty 

 thoroughly settled that the cooking of feed in any way, shape 

 or manner decreases the digestibility of it, and is done at a 

 financial loss. As to the question which produces the best 

 results, giving the feed dry or giving it wet, I am inclined 

 to say that I do not think there is much difference between 

 them ; but I would not want to decide one way or the other. 

 Our method is to scatter the grain over the ensilage, and, 

 the ensilage being moist, the grain sticks to it, and becomes 

 moist. I think it has been pretty definitely settled that any 

 added warmth to the feed is not a help, and in almost every 

 case there has been an actual detriment. 



Mr. Waters. Mr. Goddard says he has tried watering 

 once a day and twice a day, and found that his cows did 

 as well when watered once as they did when watered 

 twice. I would like to ask him at what time he watered 

 his cows. I have found that cows, like human beings, 

 want something to drink after they get through eating. 

 My experience has taught me that if a cow in milk is 

 watered twice a day, she will do better than when she is 

 watered but once. 



Mr. James S. Grinnell of Greenfield. I have been 

 exceedingly sorry to hear some of the remarks which dropped 

 from our instructor. They shattered my idol. If any 

 experiment station will put forth the dogma that warm water 

 is no better for making milk, is no more conducive to the 

 health of the cow, than cold, I hav» lost faith in that experi- 



