12 



may properly speak of such rations as abnormal or unbal- 

 anced rations. May we not expect abnormal results from such 

 feeding? We know that other abnormal conditions produce 

 unnatural results. 



I have frequently been asked the question, " If I feed a 

 poorer ration, as straw without much grain, my cows will give 

 milk poorer in fat, will they not?" I have answered that, in 

 my opinion, it depended almost wholly upon the tendency of 

 the cow, it woidd probably remain practically unchanged, but 

 it might be either richer or poorer. My belief is simply this, 

 that so long as a cow is fed upon a well balanced ration, com- 

 posed of foods agreeable to her taste, the variations in the per 

 cent of fat in her milk are mainly due to other circumstances 

 than the sources from which the nutrients in her ration are 

 derived. 



Begin with table i, and follow the changes through. With 

 Duchess we find a small but nearly constant increase, while 

 Duchess, 2d, shows a steady decrease. Duchess, 2d, was 

 fresh in milk and, as before stated, was oft' feed early in the 

 experiment. Princess Leto and Pilot's Lily made an increase 

 in period 2, followed by a decrease in period 3, and an increase 

 in period 4. Does the increase of one, or two tenths of one 

 per cent, in period 3, and a decrease of one seventh of one 

 per cent in period 3, prove, or even indicate that vetch hay 

 has a tendency to cause cows to give richer milk, or that 

 corn meal has a tendency to produce poorer milk? Is it not 

 more probable that these slight changes were induced by the 

 unusually narrow ration followed by the change to a heavy grain 

 ration? Again, does the decrease in Frost and Maramee in 

 period 3, of four or five hundredths of one per cent, prove 

 that corn meal produces poor milk ; or does it show that, in 

 spite of the radical change in the food, these two cows con- 

 tinued to maintain the qtiality of their milk at the expense of 

 quantity? To show the matter more plainly, I insert the daily 

 record of Maramee for periods 2 and 3. 



