EFFECT OF SILAGE ON FLAVOR AND ODOR. OF MILK. 



17 



Table 8. — Effect of feeding 5 to 20 pounds of alfalfa silage once daily one 



hour after milking. 





Result of sampUng. 



Milk from cows fed 

 silage. 



Milk from 

 cows not 

 fed silage. 





Before 

 aeration. 



After 

 aeration. 



Number examinations - ^ - 



14 



14 



14 









Off flavor 



10 

 4 



5 

 9 









14 









Off odor 



8 

 6 



5 

 9 







No off odor . 



14 







In this experiment 5 pounds were fed to begin with, and this 

 quantity increased 5 pounds every two days up to 20 pounds, when 

 it v\^as reduced to 5 pounds again, dropping 5 pounds eveiy two days. 

 It was observed that the alfalfa-silage flavor did not become notice- 

 able in the milk until 10 pounds or more were fed. However, when 

 from 15 to 20 pounds were consumed at each feeding the milk took 

 on a decided feed flavor and odor. 



Wlien this milk was aerated the degree of feed flavor and odor 

 was decidedly reduced and was detected less often, as shown in the 

 table. This again shows the importance of aerating milk. It was 

 also observed that when the milk from cows receiving 10 pounds was 

 aerated all judges failed to detect feed flavors or odors. 



This work indicates that alfalfa silage should be fed only after 

 milking, and that the milk should be well aerated while still warm. 

 The importance of this is shown by comparing the results in Table 7 

 with those obtained in Table 8. 



EXPERIMENTS WITH SWEET-CLOVER SILAGE. 



In some cases clover crops have been made into silage with fair 

 success. Where weather conditions interfere with the proper curing 

 of clover for hay it is sometimes put into the silo. It is well known 

 that the silage made from clover has a strong odor, necessitating care- 

 ful feeding to avoid tainting the milk. For this experiment silage 

 made from sweet clover, cut in fine lengths and tramped solidly, 

 was fed to the experimental cows. It was noted that the sweet- 

 clover silage had a more decided odor than the alfalfa silage. 



1. FEEDING SWEET-CLOVER SILAGE BEFORE MILKING. 



At the beginning of the work 5 pounds of sweet-clover silage were 

 fed one hour before milking. This was continued for several days ; 

 afterwards the quantity was increased to 10 pounds and continued 

 for several days longer ; then increased to 15 pounds. An effort was 



