8 



DAIRY CHEMISTRY 



maximum or the minimum percentage of milk 

 solids. 



Milk varies in composition with the individuality 

 of the animal, period of lactation, care, exhaustive- 

 ness of milking, general condition as to health, and 

 nature of the food consumed. Individuality, as 

 breed characteristics, influences the composition of 

 milk to a greater extent than the other factors 

 enumerated. The extent to which some of these 

 factors influence the composition of milk will be 

 discussed in other chapters of this work. 



As an example of the composition of milk from 

 different breeds, the following table taken from the 

 New York Experiment Station, and representing 

 one year's work, is given : 



While these figures do not necessarily hold true for 

 all herds, or for individual animals of any breed, 

 they show the average composition of the milk for 

 an entire season from a number of representative 

 animals of different breeds. In determining the 



