Food as a Factor 47 
Where the keeping of records of production is 
likely to prove burdensome on individual small owners, 
it has been found that this work may be done to great 
advantage codperatively, and the success of cow-testing 
associations in many localities attests this fact. 
Food as a factor in milk production.—It is self- 
evident that feed must be an important factor in the 
production of milk, since the solids in milk are pro- 
duced directly from the food. It matters little what 
the conformation or the hereditary powers of the 
animal may be, she cannot produce milk in large 
amounts for long periods of time unless she is 
abundantly supplied with the material from which 
the milk is made, and, in general, that cow is the 
best and most economical that can transform the 
largest amount of food into a corresponding amount 
of milk. The subject of feeding of domestic animals, 
and particularly the dairy cow, has received a great 
deal of study and investigation in this country and 
Europe in the last fifty years, and very notable ad- 
vances have been made with respect to the science 
and art of feeding animals, and a large literature has 
sprung up in regard to this question. This work is 
not intended to be a manual of cattle feeding in any 
sense, so only the most general principles in respect 
to feeding dairy cattle will be touched upon. The 
‘ideal ration for the dairy cow must be abundant; it 
must be nutritious; it must be palatable; it must be 
succulent; it must provide a sufficient balance be- 
tween the proteid and non-proteid nutrients, and it 
must be cheap. 
