EFFECT OF SILAGE Olsi FLAVOE AjSTD ODOR OF MILK. 15 



30 pounds daily was fed in two feeds after milkinc:, the milk from 

 the cows showed a slight feed flavor and odor, and that when more 

 than 40 pounds per day were fed to cows, their milk carried con- 

 tinuously a slight silage flavor and odor. In this connection, it is 

 again pointed out as reported by Henry and Morrison (6), that as 

 feeding progressed the effects of the silage become less and less 

 apparent in the milk. In our work it was found that while this was 

 true when less than 35 pounds per day was fed to each cow, it was 

 shown that when over 40 pounds were consumed, the sweetish feed 

 flavor could always be detected. King (7) reports : 



It was demonstrated that if silage is fed to cows just after milking, in a 

 majority of cases, milks so produced could not be separated by tbe sense of 

 smell from nonsilage milks. 



Farrington {3) reports : 



It has been repeatedly proved that silage can be fed to dairy cows without 

 tainting the milk, butter, or cream in the slightest. 



The presence of a small but discernible amount of silage flavor in 

 milk need not perplex, however, for it is shown that careful aeration 

 will reduce this to a point where the feed flavor and odor will not 

 be detected by the average consumer. 



Moderate quantities of corn silage properly fed to milking cows 

 have a tendencj^ to enhance rather than to detract from the flavor 

 and odor of the milk. This is especially true of individual milks 

 normally flat or lacking in flavor. 



EXPERIMENTS WITH ALFALFA SILAGE. 



It frequently happens that farmers have difficulty in curing alfalfa 

 for hay. The first cutting is sometimes so full of weeds that it dries 

 slowly; in other cases a wet season interferes, while at other times 

 a threatening early frost makes immediate cutting of the last crop 

 expedient. Putting the green alfalfa into the silo has in many cases 

 meant saving the crop. 



While some dairymen have used alfalfa silage with success, others 

 claim that milk spoilage is experienced. However that may be, a 

 great deal of alfalfa silage is now being fed. The experiments next 

 described were carried out to determine how this roughage, rich in 

 protein, may be fed so as to affect least deleteriously the flavor and 

 odor of the milk produced. 



The alfalfa silage used was made from finely cut green alfalfa, 

 carefully packed in the silo. 



1. FEEDING ALFALFA SILAGE BEFORE MILKING. 



The first work covered the feeding of 5 pounds of alfalfa silage 

 one hour before milking. This quantity was gradually increased to 



