20 MAINE STATE COLLEGE 



whereas the Holsteins exceed the Jerseys in weight about thirty- 

 three per cent. This is equivalent to saying that the quantity of 

 food has not been in proportion to the weight of the animals, and it 

 may be suggested by some one that this fact places the larger cows 

 at a disadvantage as compared with the smaller. It should be 

 remarked, however, that the Holsteins have eaten on the aver- 

 age a third more grain than the Jerseys, and hay has been fed to 

 them according to their appetites. It is a well recognized fact 

 that the food of an animal does not increase in proportion to the 

 increase in weight, or, in other words, a small cow requires a 

 larger maintenance ration in proportion to her weight than a large 

 cow, consequently the food required for a given production would 

 be relatively less in the case of the heavier animal. It is per- 

 fectly reasonable that this should be so. The large cow gives off 

 less heat for each pound of live weight than the small cow, for 

 the reason . that two cows weighing six hundred pounds each 

 would have much more surface exposed to the air than one cow 

 weighing twelve hundred pounds. The loss of heat will be some- 

 what in proportion to the exposed surface, and so the two small 

 cows would require more food as fuel than the one large one. A 

 study of the figures of the two previous tables shows that only 

 moderate rations have been fed, and it is believed that these 

 rations have been fairly proportioned to the needs of the several 

 animals. While the grain rations may seem to some to be small, 

 it should be remembered that the mixture of foods has been 

 such as to give the maximum results from the amount eaten. 



The Yield of Milk, Milk Solids, Fat, Cream axd Butter. 



The nature of the record kept of the production of these cows 

 is given in the Report for 1889 on page 112, to which place refer- 

 ence is made for those desiring information. The figures of the 

 table which follows represents the main results of the two years' 

 test. It is to be noticed that something more than the yield of 

 milk and butter is given. If a cow's butter capacity is to be tested, 

 then the total amount of fat in her milk is in general the standard 

 by which she should be judged. If on the other hand, we wish to 

 ascertain her capacity as a producer of human food, then it 

 becomes a question of the total amount of milk solids which she 

 is able to manufacture. Having kept a record with these animals, 

 not only of the yield of milk but also of its composition in the 

 several cases, we are able to calculate the weights of milk solids 



