COMPOSITION, ETC., OF PUMPKINS. 



67 



tening pigs, together with ground barley and beans; also to milch cows 

 at the rate of 25 to over 100 pounds daily, cut fine and mixed with cut 

 straw; and to fattening cattle as high as 100 pounds daily, preferably 

 cooked. Pumpkins are also fed in Austria to cows, fattening cattle, pigs 

 and horses. Pott states that the claim made that the seeds are injurious 

 is without foundation. 



Feeding Pumpkins to Milch Cows at this Station. 



In order to observe the effect of pumpkins upon the quantity and 

 quality of milk and on the general condition of the animals, two grade 

 Jersey cows were selected and fed with 30 pounds each of pumpkins daily, 

 in addition to hay and grain. The data and plan are as follows : — 



History of Cows. 



Plan and Duration of Experiment. 



The two cows were fed in three distinct periods of twenty-one days 

 each, exclusive of the preliminary periods. In the first period they each 

 received a ration of hay, bran and cottonseed meal and hominy meal; 

 in the second period the same ration, excepting that 5 pounds of the hay 

 were replaced by 30 pounds of the pumpkins; in the third period the 

 ration fed was the same as in the first period. The results secured in the 

 first and third periods were averaged and compared with those secured 

 in the second. Five pounds of hay were therefore compared with 30 

 pounds of pumpkins. 



Care of Animals. — The animals were well cared for and turned into 

 a barnyard about eight to nine hours each day. They were fed twice 

 daily; the hay was given sometime before milking and the grain just 

 before milking, while in the morning the grain was given just before, and 

 the hay just after, milking. Water was supplied constantly by aid of a 

 self -watering device. 



Character of Feeds. — The hay and grains were of the usual good qual- 

 ity. The pumpkins were grown by one farmer and were the ordinary 

 yellow field variety of different sizes. Most of them were ripe. 



Sampling Feeds and Milk. — The hay was sampled at the beginning and 

 end of each period by taking forkfuls of the daily weighing, running the 



