

Vol. XIV. 



ROCHESTER, N. Y., MAY, 1853. 



No. V, 



tdJ), 



THE TRANSFORMATION OF VEGETABLES INTO MILK AND FLESH. 



Agricultural physiology in its application to the production of milk and meat, has 

 received very little attention in this country ; nor has it been possible during the last 

 thirty years to introduce the study of this branch of rural economy into any educational 

 institution in the United States. Hence very few facts exist to form the basis of any 

 argument which we may offer, drawn from experience on this side of the Atlantic ; and 

 we are constrained to go to Europe for our data and collateral evidence. 



When a cow is in full flow of milk, what is the relation that subsists between the 

 amount of food consumed and the matter voided as dung, estimating both free from 

 water ? 



Under the patronage of government, Dr. Thompson, of Glasgow, experimented on 

 two cows, both near six years of age ; one a speckled Ayrshire, and the other a fair 

 brown native of Scotland. His first experiments commenced June 10th, and continued 

 ^^teen days. The Ayrshire weighed 994 lbs. — the brown cow 967^; and to each 

 wf#'fed 1426 lbs. 12 oz. of green rye grass, which was consumed, being a small fraction 

 less than 102 lbs. a day by each. Seventy-five per cent, of this grass was wat6r; so 

 that 356^ lbs. of dry matter entered the stomach of each cow in 14 days. As voided, 

 the dung of the brown cow weighed 1049 lbs. 2 oz. 2 drs. ; and that of the white cow 

 (Ayrshire) 1000 lbs. 7 oz. 9 drs. Thoroughly dried, that of the brown cow weighed 147 

 lbs.; and that of the white cow 140 lbs. The.se facts show that a half pound of solids 

 taken into the stomach of the Ayrshire cow passed through the walls of the intestines 

 into the blood vessels every 24 hours more than, took place in the system of the brown 

 cow. In round numbers, each cow eat 2^ lbs. of dq-^-fouagei^n 24 hou];s; from which 

 one extracted, by superior digestive and absorptive power, 12|- per cent, more aliment 

 which passed into the circulation of her blood, than the other.» ajhis» g^ih in nutritive 

 matter in the Ayrshire appeared not in an increased flow of milk, as one might not 

 unreasonably expect, but in flesh ; for she added 40 lbs. to her weight in 14 days, it 

 being nearly 4 lbs. a day, and 1 lb. live weight gain to 6^ lbs. dry food consumed. In 

 addition to this gain in flesh, the white cow yielded 304 lbs. 13 oz. 2 drs, of milk; 

 from which 8 lbs. 2 oz. of butter were separated in 14 days. The brown cow gave 342 

 lbs. 14 oz. 1 dr. of milk, and gained 18|- lbs. in weight. From her milk was extracted 

 11 lbs. 4 oz. 4 drs. of butter. It will be seen that while the brown cow yielded 3 lbs. 

 2 oz. more butter than the white cow, the latter gained 314- lbs. more flesh than the 

 former. 



It is idle to attempt to separate the flesh-forming from the milk-forming functions of 

 dairy stock, as a practical and economical question. That stock is most valuable whose 

 digestive and assimilative powers give the largest return for the food consumed, whether 



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