CHAPTER XIX 

 MILK PRODUCTION 



Milk, like all other animal products, is derived from 

 the food. Its secretion stands almost unrivaled as an 

 example of the rapid, extensive, and continuous trans- 

 formation of the food into animal compounds. In no 

 other instance, except perhaps in the case of the earliest 

 growth of animals, is so large a proportion of the digested 

 nutrients utilized in building new material, or is there so 

 intimate a relation between the extent and kind of the 

 feeding and the extent and character of the resulting 

 product. For these and other reasons, the successful 

 feeding of milch cows requires, perhaps, greater expertness 

 and a wider knowledge of facts than any other depart- 

 ment of animal husbandry. This will appear more fully 

 as we continue to develop this subject. 



It is not proposed in this coimection to enter into 

 an elaborate discussion of the chemistry and secretion 

 of milk, for this is presented elsewhere in the series of 

 which this volume is a part. It is essential to present 

 piu-poses, however, that we call to mind certain facts 

 which are pertinent to a consideration of the food rela- 

 tions of milk formation. 



418. Composition of cow's milk. — ^Milk is a fluid that 

 is secreted by all mammals in a gland which with the 

 cow is called the udder. It contains water and solids, the 

 latter being made up of mineral compounds, proteins, 

 fats, and sugar. The average composition of normal 



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