50 MILK [iv 



secretion. While it is true that experiments have 

 shown that change of diet seems to have little 

 immediate effect on the milk, it is a mistake to 

 imagine that milk is independent of feeding. There 

 is no doubt that such conditions as individuality and 

 breed, under ordinary conditions of feeding, count for 

 more than food; still the importance of having a 

 properly adjusted diet for milk cows is very great, 

 and unless cows are properly fed they cannot be 

 expected to yield their maximum quantity of milk, 

 since under an ill-assorted diet the milk -yielding 

 capacity is bound to suffer just as much as any 

 other function of the body. Unfortunately, the ex- 

 periments carried out on the influence of food have 

 been comparatively few in number, and the results 

 obtained very contradictory. There are, however, 

 certain conclusions which we are warranted in mak- 

 ing on the influence of food. 



With regard to the three food nutrients, the 

 albuminoids, fat, and non- nitrogenous bodies, the 

 first named have by far the most important in- 

 fluence on milk. Whatever theory may be adopted 

 as to the formation of milk in the cow's udder, 

 there can be no doubt that the nitrogenous 

 bodies in the milk are derived from the nitro- 

 genous bodies of the cell substance. The food 

 nutrient from which this cell substance is built 

 up is bound, therefore, to have a very important 



