80 HATCH EXPERIMENT STATION. [Jan. 



The feed for the first experiment was furnished by the man- 

 ufacturers. In the second experiment we procured the sep- 

 arate ingredients, and mixed the feed ourselves. Each of 

 the two milk experiments was made with six cows. In the 

 first experiment the feed consisted of a constant grain and 

 ensilage ration, together with a good quality of first-cut hay 

 and cotton-seed feed ; in the second experiment there was a 

 constant grain and mangel ration, in addition to the hay 

 and cotton-se'ed feed. The cotton-seed feed was looked upon 

 as being similar in character to hay, and, in attempting to 

 get at its value, from 12 to 15 pounds were substituted 

 daily for a like quantity of hay. The first experiment lasted 

 twenty-one days and the second twenty-eight days. In case 

 of digestion experiments, in which six single tests were made, 

 some of the sheep received nothing but the cotton-seed feed, 

 and others received half hay and half of the feed. While 

 the cotton-seed feed has not an attractive appearance, the 

 animals in all cases ate their daily rations with no apparent 

 objections. 



The Results. 



I. The total average gain of the six cows in live weight 

 during the cotton-seed period was 05 pounds, and during the 

 hay period 166 pounds. 



II. The production of milk, milk solids and butter fat 

 was so nearly alike in the average of both experiments as to 

 be within the limits of experimental error. 



III. The cost of producing milk and butter with the hay 

 and with the cotton-seed ration varied but very little. 



IV. A ton of cotton-seed feed contained about 964 

 pounds of digestible matter, and a ton of the hay about 

 1,007 pounds of digestible material. 



V. A full description of the experiments, together with 

 all data bearing on the results, will be found further on. 



Is Cotton-seed Feed economical for Massachusetts 



Farmers ? 



There would unquestionably be no advantage for the aver- 

 age farmer to feed this material in place of hay, unless he 

 could sell his hay for a sufficient advance over the cost of 



