FOODS FOR USE IN THE DAIRY. 127 



been in use and partly exposed to the air near the sur- 

 face of the soil for more than a year, is now as bright as 

 when laid, and does not affect the taste of the water in 

 the least. 



CHAPTER XL 

 FOODS FOR USE IN THE DAIRY. 



The subject of foods for use in the dairy is one of the 

 highest importance to the dairyman. If the cow is a 

 machine for manufacturing raw materials — the food — 

 into finished products — milk, butter, and cheese — then 

 it follows that while the character of the machine and 

 its ability to do its work properly are of first importance, 

 the character of the materials worked up is of but very 

 little less importance ; for no machine, however good it 

 may be, can do good work with poor materials. *' Out of 

 nothing, nothing comes ;" and if the food is deficient in 

 the elements required to make the desired products — the 

 nitrogenous elements to make up the caseine, the fat to 

 make the butter, the carbo-hydrates to make the sugar, 

 and the mineral matter to furnish the salts — the cow, no 

 matter how excellent an animal she may be, cannot 

 supply the deficiencies. 



The dairyman should therefore be an expert on the 

 subject of foods; He should know of what elements 

 the animal itself consists, what are required to support 

 the animal in a full condition of health and vigor, and 

 of what elements milk of the best quality is composed. 

 This furnishes the key to the most important problem, 

 '^How should a cow be fed to procure from her the 

 largest quantity of the best product at the least cost?" 

 Upon the proper solution of this problem the profits of 

 the dairyman depend. 



An animal requires a certain quantity of three ele- 

 mentary kinds of nutriment to support it in vigorous 



