114 ILLINOIS DAIRYMEN'S ASSOCIATION. 



require. Few dairymen realize that concurrently with this in- 

 crease in the milk of the cow there has gone on a development of 

 her digestive powers. I had occasion a few years ago to look 

 up this matter and found that one cow at the Michigan Agricul- 

 tural College was eating and digesting more food than some 

 four or five steers could be expected to take, and besides that was 

 yielding in her milk more dry matter than five steers in the state 

 was laying on their carcasses in the same length of time. Not 

 only was the cow doing more actual digestive business than the 

 five steers, but she was doing it more economically. In other 

 words the cow returns in her milk more dry matter per hundred 

 pounds of dry matter in her food than does any steer, no matter 

 how well bred or how excellent in form. Again, the cow was 

 yielding in her milk much more protein than a dozen steers would 

 be putting on their carcasses in the same length of time. The 

 steer adds fat and water and a little protein, the cow cannot give 

 milk unless it contains fully 3 per cent of protein. Naturally 

 she gives more protein per day and more protein per hundred 

 pounds of feed consumed than the steer lays on his carcass in 

 the same time or from the same quantity of feed. 



As a result of her large digestive capacity the cow necessar- 

 ily has a larger abdomen than the steer. This in connection with 

 the large udder gives the wedge shape and explains the reason- 

 ableness of the dairy form. 



Turning now to the question of cleanliness, I want to repeat 

 with somewhat greater emphasis, statements made in my former 

 paper. I maintain that where milk has once been inoculated 

 with such germs as naturally come into it from a dirty udder 

 and filthy stable or dirty vessels, and is allowed to remain unpas- 

 teurized for several hours, it is impossible to cure the evils in that 

 milk by subsequent pasteurization. Nature warms the milk con- 

 sumer by the formation of lactic acid when the danger point is 

 approaching. Lactic acid is formed from the milk sugar in the 

 milk by the action of certain well known germs. Now note that 

 these lactic acid forming germs are the ones which are first killed 

 and most easily killed by pasteurization. Pasteurization kills 



