206 DAIRY CATTLE AND MILK PRODUCTION 



until they came into milk. It was planned to have one half 

 of each of these groups calve at 20 to 24 months of age, and 

 the other half at 32 to 36 months. The conditions are ex- 

 treme in both directions, in order to give some definite results 

 in regard to the influence of the ration fed and of the age 

 of calving. While this investigation is not yet completed, 

 sufficient data are at hand to enable some conclusions to be 

 drawn. 



In discussing this subject, certain of the questions sent to 

 the breeders will be given, followed by a summary of their 

 opinions and a discussion based upon our experimental results. 



Influence of Overfeeding when Young. Question 2. Do 

 you believe from your experience that a dairy cow may. be 

 injured by being allowed to become overfat when young? 



Of 281 breeders replying to this question 76 per cent reply 

 in the affirmative and 24 per cent in the negative. It has 

 been believed for a long time by many breeders that it is 

 injurious to the milking qualities of a dairy cow to become 

 fat when young. This has been thought to develop a tend- 

 ency toward using feed for body fat that will persist when 

 the animal is mature and in milk. This supposition is based 

 upon observations which may easily be erroneous. When a 

 cow of a dairy breed lacks dairy qualities and shows a beef 

 tendency in conformation, it is easy to attribute it to im- 

 proper feeding when young. In many cases the same ani- 

 mal did show a beef tendency when young, but not from 

 overfeeding, but as an inherited characteristic. So far in 

 our investigations no injurious effect on the milk-producing 

 function has been found from heavy feeding when young. 

 Some of our best cows have been in one group, and some in 

 the other. Those heifers which have been kept fat from 



