PRODUCTION, COMPOSITION AND CHARACTERISTICS 7 



is not the place here to go deeper into this problem 

 which has long been a subject for thorough research 

 and experiments. In fact, more attention has been 

 paid to the feeding of cattle than to the proper nourish- 

 ment of human beings, and much of what we know 

 about the latter has been deducted from experience 

 and study on the dairy farm, and from laboratory work 

 along that line. In the chapter on ''Milk as a Food" 

 we are taking up food values, etc., in relation to the 

 feeding of children and men. Suffice it here to say 

 that the same fundamental principles apply to the feed- 

 ing of calves and cattle for the production of milk and 

 beef. And we wish to emphasize the fact that, with 

 due consideration to the proper proportion between the 

 various groups of nutrients, it is much more important 

 that the food is succulent, appetizing and easily digest- 

 ible than that the ration shall be accurately balanced. 



This fact, long well known to practical breeders and 

 dairymen, has recently been confirmed by Dr. E. V. 

 McCullom to whose experiments further reference is 

 made in the chapter on milk as a food for children. He 

 shows that there is a \'ery great difference in the quality 

 of Protein and Fat from various sources and that there 

 is ''Something Unknown" in butter-fat, for instance, 

 which is absent in most other fats and which is vital 

 for the growth of the child as well as for the proper 

 nourishment of man. This unknown but essential sub- 

 stance is also found, in small quantities, in the leaves 

 of certain plants, as in alfalfa, while it is absent in the 

 grain of the cereals. 



In modern dairy farming alfalfa is considered an in- 

 dispensable source for protein, and corn-ensilage or beets 

 for carbohydrates, while bran, cottonseed meal or oil 



