1890] PUBLIC DOCUMENT — No. 33. 47 



live stock. Actual feeding experiments, under well-defined 

 circumstances, alone can give us the desired informa- 

 tion. 



Although much needs still to be done in this direction to 

 recognize in many instances more clearly the principles which 

 underlie a successful practice, it must be admitted that some 

 valuable facts have been already established in regard to a 

 rational and thus economical system of stock feeding, by 

 European investigators and others, which can serve advan- 

 tageously as guides in compounding economical fodder com- 

 binations for all kinds of farm live stock. The economy of 

 milk production, in particular, has received much attention. 

 European investigators recommend in this connection quite 

 generally a daily diet, rich in digestible nitrogenous constit- 

 uents, as l)eneficial to the general condition of cows, and at 

 the same time reducing the net cost of the feed consumed, by 

 furnishing larger quantities of valuable home-made manure 

 at the lowest market cost. The European standard for a 

 daily diet of milch cows calls for one part of digestible nitrog- 

 enous fodder constituents to five and four-tenths parts of 

 digestible non-nitrogenous food constituents. Our results, 

 on the whole, point in the same direction. The nitrogenous 

 food constituents of the fodder rations received special 

 attention. 



The main interest of our inquiry, however, consists in the 

 partial or entire successful substitution, under otherwise 

 corresponding circumstances, of dry fodder corn or corn 

 stover or corn ensilage for English hay, as far as net cost of 

 feed and quality and quantity of milk are concerned. The 

 results of former years of observation are already on record 

 in our respective annual reports ; they lead to the same con- 

 clusions as those stated in the introduction to our latest 

 experiment, described in preceding pages. The net cost of 

 the daily feed during our late experiment has been reported in 

 that connection. The quality of the milk and cream obtained 

 on that occasion may be learned from the subsequent tabular 

 creamery records of the station. (See "Feeding Experi- 

 ment," chapter IV., creamery record of the Massachusetts 

 State Agricultural Experiment Station during the years 

 1885 to 1889, contained in this report.) 



