40 



DOMESTICATED ANIMALS AND PLANTS 



it will be found that some of the rows will yield two and often 

 three times as much as others,^ all of which proves that some 

 varieties or strains will produce fifty bushels as easily as others 

 will produce thirty, showing conclusively the need of better 

 seed, or rather of the best that is obtainable. 



Professor Fraser, head of the dairy department at the Uni- 

 versity of Illinois, has conducted many hundreds of actual tests, 

 aiming to secure reliable data on the relative efficiency of cows. 

 These tests are of two general kinds : one conducted away 

 from the University on the commercial herds of the state, 

 aiming to secure the yearly product with only approximate 

 reference to the food consumption ; the other conducted at the 

 University under the most careful conditions, and aiming to 

 secure records of the nutrients consumed, as well as ,s)i. the 

 milk and fat produced. 



Of the commercial-herd tests something over twelve hundred 

 individuals have been tested for periods running from one to 

 three years. Their average animal production was 5521 pounds 

 of milk and 2 1 9 pounds of fat distributed as follows : 



Relative Milk-Producing Powers of 1200 Cows for One Year 



1 This is an experiment that every student can readily verify, and it is 

 recommended that he do it. 



