100 ANNUAL KEPORTS OF DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE. 



was the piu-ilication of oil-soaked cotton waste. This work was 

 in progress and the process nearly perfected w^hen the signing of the 

 armistice made it advisable to discontinue the work. 



DAIRY EXPERIMENT FARM. 



Practical experimental w^ork in various problems has been con- 

 tinued at the Dairy Division experiment farm at Beltsville, Md. The 

 farm produces a large part of the feed required. 



METHODS OF WATERING COWS. 



Experiments on the influence of the method of watering on the 

 quantity of water drunk by cows and the production of milk have 

 been completed, and a manuscript describing the work has been 

 prepared. The difference between watering at will and twice a day 

 was not pronounced ; the cows with the water continuously available 

 drank less and yielded more, the gains in the body weight being the 

 same. Both of these systems of watering when compared with water- 

 ing once a day showed an increase in w^ater consumption, milk pro- 

 duction, and a gain in live weight. These experiments point to the 

 tentative conclusion that the advantage of water continuously lies 

 mainly in the saving of labor rather than in a greater production of 

 milk. 



KEGULAR VKIISUS IP.KEGULAR MILKING. 



To determine the effect of regular and irregular milking on the 

 milk yield, five cows were used in an experiment in which regular 

 and irregular milking were practiced alternately, in periods of 25 

 days each. The results show that with cows yielding an average of 

 20 or 25 pounds of milk daily there was no difference between reg- 

 ular and irregular milking so far as production was concerned. The 

 feeding hours were regular throughout. It is thought that more 

 difference might be found if both feeding and milking were irreg- 

 ular, as in the case on many farms. 



GRUELS FOR CALVES. 



As a result of experiments with the object of preparing a calf 

 meal which would be cheap, easy to keep in liquid suspension, make 

 good gains in weight and maintain the vigor of the calf, a mixture 

 has been produced which largely meets these requirements. 



FEED COST FOR RAISING HEIFERS. 



In an effort to determine the cost of raising heifers, 11 calves were 

 fed to the age of 1 year and 5 to the age of 2 years. The results 

 showed the cost of raising heifers to 1 year of age to be $72.42 and 

 to the age of 2 years $157.96, with feed at current prices in Maryland 

 and under the system of management necessary at the Beltsville 

 farm. These figures show the necessity of providing cheap feed, 

 such as pasture, for heifers, and the necessity of thorough culling 

 to avoid raising animals which will prove inferior. 



