DAIRYING 17 



be $500. Prizes shall only be awarded to the bona fide owner of a cow 

 at the time her record is made. * * 



The present competition differs from previous tests of dairy cows 

 in that the rules require the cows shall be bred regularly. Failure to 

 get a cow in calf before the end of the fifth month after calving will bar 

 her from competing for prizes. This will enable a breeder to obtain high 

 records from his best cows without the risk of ruining them for future- 

 usefulness in the herd. 



III. Causes of Variation in the Amount and the Richness of Milk 

 Produced Under Normal Conditions. 



159. One of the first things noticed by a beginner in weighing 

 and testing the milk of a cow is the surprising variations in the per 

 cent of fat that may occur from day to day. These variations lead 

 sometimes to a questioning of the accuracy of the method of testing 

 the milk, because the results in some cases seem to be decidedly 

 contradictory to the conclusions of cow owners who, have milked 

 cows for years and whose opinions have been formed from their 

 own expectations rather than from actual tests they have made. 

 The general impression among farmers seems to be that the rich- 

 ness of a cow's milk should remain the same as long as there is no 

 change in the cow's feed. It should be remembered, however, that 

 the teacher or scientist who makes the statement that rich feed 

 does not make rich milk is basing his conclusions on the results of 

 actual trials that have been made, and while he might prefer to be 

 on the popular side and agree with the opinions of those who have 

 fed cows for years, he must record the figures just as they come 

 even if they are contradictory to the popular idea on this matter. 

 It has been demonstrated beyond question by many scientists that 

 the Babcock Test gives accurate results when properly used, and 

 since the method is so simple that any intelligent person should 

 have no difficulty in getting accurate results with it, we should have 

 perfect confidence in the figures obtained by weighing and testing 

 the milk of a cow or cows each day. 



160. The cause of many of the variations in milk have been 

 carefully studied and the observations of scientists nearly always 

 point in the same direction. Among the factors that have been 

 noted to have an influence on the amount and the richness of a cow's 

 milk are the following: 



