SETJS STATE 



AGRICULflJR>^k||ENT STATION. 



.SEmEM^R, 1890. 



Feeding Experiments with Milch Cows. 



DECEMBER 1889 TO JULY 1890. 



The feeding experiments subsequent!}' described were instituted 

 chiefly for the purpose of comparing the effect of " New Process 

 Linseed Meal " with that of " Old Process Linseed Oilcake Meal," 

 on the quantity and quality of milk produced, and on the cost of feed 

 consumed, when fed in equal weights as an ingredient of an other- 

 wise corresponding daily diet of milch cows. This inquiry into the 

 respective merits of both kinds of Linseed Meal for dairy purposes, 

 has been undertaken in response to frequent inquiries regarding that 

 point on the part of dairymen in our state. The Old Process Linsetid 

 Oilcake Meal is sold, in our local markets at $27.00 per ton of 2000 

 pounds, and the New Process Linseed Meal of the Cleveland Linseed 

 Oil Co., at $26.00 for the same weight. The first named article is 

 obtained when the seed is subjected to the action of a powerful press 

 to secure its oil ; while the latter is produced by the aid of a new 

 process, owned by the Cleveland Co. The new process favors a 

 more thorough abstraction of the oil ; and involves, it is stated, a 

 boiling of the seeds. The difference in the treatment of the seed, 

 for the separation of the oil, explains one of the most characteristic 

 differences in the composition of both kinds of Linseed Meal ; for Old 

 Process Linseed Meal contains, as a rule, a larger percentage of oil 

 or fat, and a smaller one of organic nitrogen-containing matter, than 

 the New Process Linseed Meal. Aside from the stated causes of 

 differences in their composition, there are various other circumstances, 

 which not unfrequently contribute toward serious variations in the 

 composition of individual samples of both kinds. Among these is 

 most prominent a more or less advanced state of maturity of the 

 plant when harvested. Our inquiry into the comparative value of 

 both kinds of meal as a fodder ingredient, of the daily diet for milch 

 cows, has been carried on with articles of the following average 

 composition : _^ 



