No. 4.] BREEDS AND VARIETIES. 183 



food, to know that those volatile oils that come from well- 

 developed fruit and well-cooked food are powerful assistants 

 of digestion. There are many people, especially people 

 who are somewhat aged, who cannot eat a piece of meat that 

 has laid out on the butcher's table for a week. My cows, 

 when they are well fed, will not eat hay that has laid out 

 and been aired for two or three days on the floor. It has 

 lost its spirit ; that is, the volatile oil which stimulates 

 digestion. The gentleman has made a good point there. 

 The oleomargarine manufacturers understand this, and they 

 churn the oleo with milk, in order to get a little of the vol- 

 atile oil to assist digestion. 



Mr. Moore. I would like to ask the gentleman whether 

 they heat the water for their stock. 



Professor Roberts. Yes, we feed hot water. The Bible 

 says, ' ' Because you are neither hot nor cold I will spew 

 you out of my mouth ; " and that is literally true, I think, 

 with feeding cattle or with feeding men. You want your 

 tea cold, or you want it hot, — I do. We water our ani- 

 mals during all the colder months with water at a tempera- 

 ture of about ninety degrees. They will drink it very 

 comfortably at one hundred and ten after they get used to 

 it. You can drink milk, or at least I can, at one hundred 

 and thirty degrees. The cows relish the hot water, and if 

 you ask some good physician, he will tell you that the 

 efiect of hot water in stimulating digestion is exactly the 

 same as cold water. When you sit down to a meal and 

 drink a glass of cold water your stomach is cold ; presently 

 the reaction comes, and then you are ready for your meal. 

 You do the same thing when you drink hot water, only the 

 action is primary instead of secondary. 



Question. Can you tell us what per cent of milk you 

 get with warm water, as compared with cold ? 



Professor Roberts. We have warm stables, and all the 

 conditions are favorable. Our experiments during one win- 

 ter when we gave our cows cold water showed a diminution 

 in the quantity of milk of about fourteen per cent. 



Secretary Sessions. Professor Roberts has argued to-day 

 for variety in breeds. He has asked the question why he 

 has been called upon to come here and give us instruction. 



