28 PROFITABLE DAIRYING 



not be permanently changed by any particular 

 change of feed. It is well understood that the 

 quantity of milk which a cow produces may be 

 considerably increased, but the quality will re- 

 main practically the same. To make this plain, 

 we may use this illustration: A tree will always 

 produce the same kind of fruit; by giving the 

 tree good food it is possible to increase its yield, 

 but a winesap tree will always produce winesap 

 apples. So it is with the cow. It is the nature 

 of the cells to secrete a particular grade of milk, 

 and therefore no system of feeding will perma- 

 nently increase or decrease its fat content. The 

 idea prevalent among many farmers that a cow 

 can be made to give rich or poor milk, depending 

 on what she is fed, is entirely erroneous. 



Danish experiments. The Danes did a great 

 deal of work, experimenting to ascertain whether 

 or not feed influenced the richness of the milk, 

 and in conducting their experiments used over a 

 thousand animals. The average variation was 

 only about one one-hundredth of one per cent. 

 Such a slight variation cannot be attributed to 

 the method of feeding. Experiments have been 

 conducted by taking a poor herd of cows and test- 

 ing each individual carefully and then feeding 

 judiciously. The quantity of milk produced was 

 easily increased, but the quality always remained 

 normal. 



