316 SCIENTIFIC FEEDING OF ANIMALS 



Where the work is fatiguing the milk is also poorer 

 in water and richer in dry matter, particularly in 

 fat. Often under these conditions the quantity of 

 milk sinks so low that, despite the increased con- 

 centration, there is a considerable loss of each con- 

 stituent of the dry matter, as the figures previously 

 noticed will show. Hard work and a large milk 

 yield cannot be combined, but the use of the cow 

 for light work, provided the ration is correspond- 

 ingly improved, can be carried out without lessening 

 the quantity of milk or fat. 



(c) Other influences : treatment and care. 



The great extent to which the secretion of the 

 milk depends upon the well-being of the animals 

 is seen from an experiment in which ten cows were 

 not groomed for fourteen days. When daily 

 grooming with brush and currycomb was in opera- 

 tion the total milk yield was 2087 kg., but when 

 this was in abeyance only 2007 kg. were obtained. 

 In the first case the milk contained 1177% dry 

 matter and 2-99% fat and in the second 11-44% 

 dry matter and 3-14% fat. Everything that 

 upsets the cow — rough handling, insufficient litter, 

 a cold stall, and similar disturbing factors, all act 

 unfavourably upon the production of milk. 



