1895.] PUBLIC DOCUMENT — No. 33. 45 



fodder rations fed by many prominent dairymen in Connecti- 

 cut, and found them containing about 2.5 pounds of diges- 

 tible protein and 17.5 pounds of total digestible nutrients. 

 Where rations poorer in protein were fed than the above, 

 the milk produced was noted, then a change in the ration 

 was suggested, and later the production of the herd was 

 again accurately observed. 



They recommended, as a "tentative ration," 2.5 pounds 

 of digestible protein -and 16 pounds of total digestible or- 

 ganic matter, — practically the German standard. 



The many experiments already carried out at the Massa- 

 chusetts station have shown the economy of feeding at least 

 2.5 pounds of digestible protein in the daily ration. 



There appears, however, to be a diiference in opinion as 

 to the amount of protein that can be economically fed to 

 our dairy cows, and the investigation that follows is a step 

 towards the solution of the problem. 



In the second place, we have endeavored to note if the 

 varying amounts of protein in rations that contain sufficient 

 total digestible organic nutrients have had any noticeable 

 effect upon the quality of the milk produced. 



E. Wolft"* and G. Kiihn f during the years 1868-76 made 

 this subject a special study. The results of their investiga- 

 tion may be stated concisely as follows : — 



That milk production is dependent, in the first place, 

 upon the individuality of the cow and upon the develop- 

 ment of the milk glands. It is impossible to radically 

 change the composition of the milk by means of food, to 

 transform a " butter cow" into a " cheese cow" at will, etc. 

 On the other hand, there are cows whose milk can be in- 

 fluenced by the foods fed, but only to a limited degree. In 

 the thirty cows that were accurately studied there were 

 only two wdiere such an influence of the fodder was de- 

 cidedly proved. With some of the other cows very slight 

 changes only were noticed. Of all the milk components, 

 the fat was by far the most influenced by the food supply. 



* E. "Wolff, " Die Verssuchsstation Hohenheim," Berlin, 1870. 

 f Journal fiir Landw , 1874; Landw. Verssuchsstation, 1869; Resume in Die 

 Ernahruug der Laudwii-thschaftliclie Nutztliiere, E. Wolff, 1876. 



