16 



Thus we see that, without exception, the starchy food gives a 

 larger proportion of caseine to fat than the nitrogenous diet, and 

 we must conclude, so far as this work is concerned, that a highly 

 nitrogenous food does not produce a highly nitrogenous milk. 



BUTTER AXD CHEESE COWS. 



There is one point which needs mentioning, namely : The er- 

 roneous idea that, as the fat in milk decreases, the caseine increases. 



We are told that cows which are giving milk poor in fat, and are 

 therefore poor butter cows, are great cheese cows; and we are asked 

 to believe that when the percent, of fat is low the caseine is high. 

 The following average results show the variation between Jerse\ - s 

 and Shorthorns : 



SOLIDS. FAT. CASEINE. SUGAR. ASH. 



PER CT. PER CT. PER CT. PER CT. PER CT. 



Jersey, 15.75 6 4 5.5 75 



3 4.8 70 



Shorthorns 



>{l 



3.25 5. 75 



It will be found that a high per cent, of fat and a high per cent, 

 of caseine go together, and a milk rich in fat is not only a good milk 

 for butter but also a good milk for cheese, while the reveise is also 

 true. 



And, now, in conclusion, let me say that these results which I have 

 given are fairby representative of other results which we have on 

 hand, and I feel warranted in saying that a given animal by heredity 

 is so constituted that she will give a milk of certain average compo- 

 sition ; by judicious or injudicious feeding the amount of milk daily 

 ma}' be very largely varied, but the quality of the product will be 

 chiefly determined by the individuality of the cow. \Ve ma}' fertilize 

 the soil around our grafted apple tree and cause it to produce double 

 the amount of fruit that it would have produced uncared for, but we 

 shall never change the Baldwin apple into a Pound Sweeting, or the 

 Crab apple into a Pippin ; the kind of apple is determined by the 

 character of the tree, the amount by the character of the food; so of 

 the cow. A Shorthorn cow can never, by feeding, be changed into a 

 Jersey, and the man who starts out to increase the fat in milk by 

 simply changing the food has, in my opinion, a very difficult task to 

 perform. Slight variations are always cropping out. whether we 

 change the food or not, but changes of per cent, of fat, of any con- 

 siderable amount, do not appear to trace to food influence, so long as 

 the food is reasonably well proportioned and sufficient in quantity. 



Quantity is the i-esult of food influence. Quality is the result of 

 the make-up of the animal. 



G. H. WHITCHER, Director. 



