120 MASS. EXPERIMENT STATION BULLETIN 186. 



Table XV. — Protein Found in the Milk (Pounds). 



Experiment. 



I 



II 



Ill 



Totals 



558.8 



In case of the alfalfa ration, the total amount of protein consumed 

 in the three experiments was 2,431.8 pounds, of which 1,903.8 pounds, or 

 78.2 per cent., came from the alfalfa, and 528 pounds, or 21.7 per cent., 

 came from the beet pulp and corn meal. In the hay ration, of the total 

 of 2,504 pounds consumed, 1,050.2 pounds, or 41.9 per cent., came from 

 the hay, and 1,453.6 pounds, or 58.1 per cent., came from the beet pulp 

 and corn gluten products. 



The total protein in the milk (N X 6.25) produced by the alfalfa ration 

 was 545.3 pounds, and by the hay ration 558.8 pounds, showing that the 

 alfalfa ration, in which 78.2 per cent, of the protein was derived from 

 alfalfa, produced as much milk protein and substantially as much milk 

 solids as did the hay ration; or, in other words, that the protein of the 

 alfalfa was fully as satisfactory a source of protein for milk formation as 

 was that in the hay and corn gluten. An objection might be raised to 

 this conclusion because 528 pounds of protein (21.7 per cent, of the total 

 amount fed) was derived from beet pulp and corn meal, and this amount 

 of protein was nearly equal to the amount produced in the milk. It must 

 be remembered, however, that of the 528 pounds, scarcely two-thirds 

 would be digestible and hence available for milk production. Although 

 it is quite possible that the protein from the beet pulp and corn meal was 

 also utilized for the formation of the nitrogenous matter in the milk, it is 

 fairly safe to conclude that the alfalfa protein proved fully as satisfactory 

 a source for milk formation as did that contained in the hay and corn 

 gluten products. Hart and Humphrey^ have more completely demon- 

 strated this by feeding to two cows a ration composed of alfalfa and 

 starch, and they found that the protein in the alfalfa was equal to that 

 contained in a ration composed entirely of corn products. 



3. The diuretic effect of the alfalfa. 



The same authors have shown in two experiments with two cows that 

 the substitution of alfalfa in place of corn products caused a marked in- 

 crease in the excretion of urine and a shrinkage in the milk yield, in some 

 cases amounting to substantially 25 per cent. 



> Loc. cit. 



