CHAPTER II 



Constitution of the Cow 



Of all farm animals the dairy cow is the hardest worked. 

 She labors night and day gathering, consuming, digesting and 

 assimilating food and converting the nutrients into milk and 

 butterfat. Morning- and night she returns to her owner an 

 amount of finished product which accounts for all the nutri- 

 ents contained in the food she has eaten minus those that 

 have been absolutely required to keep her body in a healthy 

 and thrifty working condition and to nourish the unborn calf 

 that she may be developing to perpetuate her kind. 



From the standpoint of results, if she be a truly pro- 

 ductive cow, she will yield greater returns to her owner 

 measured in food values than will any other animal he may 

 keep. 



Cow Compared with Steer 



A noticeable example of this fact is cited by Prof. Eckles 

 of the Missouri Experiment Station. 



Princess Carlotta, a Plolstein cow under his supervision, 

 produced in one year 18,405 pounds of milk which was found 

 to contain more human food than is contained in the complete 

 carcasses of four steers weighing 1,2.^0 pounds each. The 

 following table gives the comparative composition of the sub- 

 stances found in the cow's volume of milk and the steer's 

 carcass : 



18,405 lbs. milk 1,250-lb. steer 



Proteid 552 lbs. 172 lbs. 



Fat 618 lbs. 333 lbs. 



Sugar 920 lbs. . .. lbs. 



Ash 128 lbs. 43 lbs. 



Total 2,218 lbs. 548 lbs. 



The whole of the milk solids was digestible, but this was 

 not true with the solid material in the steer's carcass, for the 

 548 pounds is the record of the dry matter and includes hair 

 and hide, bones and tendons, organs of digestion and respira- 

 tion ; in fact, the entire animal, a large portion df which is 

 not edible. 



Quoting Prof. Eckles : "The analysis of the steer's car- 

 cass was made from samples taken after grinding up to- 

 gether one-half of the complete carcass and is not in any 

 sense an estimation of the composition of the carcass. 



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