204 



ILLINOIS DAIRYMEN'S ASSOCIATION. 



covers a period when the cows were in lactation from four to six months 

 and were therefore doing about average work. 



~\ 



After making a daily allowance of .7 of a pound of protein per one 

 thousand pounds live weight, the cow that yielded milk containing 2.5 per 

 cent fat yielded a pound of milk each .035 of a pound of protein, or 28.57 

 pounds of milk to one pound of protein available for milk production; the 

 cow that gave milk containing 3.8 per cent fat returned a pound of milk to 

 each .045-lb. of protein, being 22.22 pounds of milk of average quality, to 

 a pound of available protein, and the cows that gave milk containing 5.3 

 per cent fat returned a pound of milk to each .057 of available protein, 

 being 17.54 pounds of milk to a pound of available protein. The average 

 yield of milk was 29.06 pounds testing on an average 3.9 per cent, being 

 milk of average quality, taking the average test of the cows that contri- 

 bute milk to Minnesota creameries as a basis, which is 3.85. The average 

 amount of protein provided was 2.09 pounds. The weight of the cows 

 averaged 991, leaving 1.40 pounds of protein available for milk, and re- 

 turned a pound of milk for each .048 of available protein, or 20.83 pounds 

 of milk to a pround of protein. 



The tables cited, however, give the summary of results obtained dur- 

 ing a period of two weeks only, beginning with March 11. The short time 

 covered by the data submitted is its weakness, but on the other hand, data 

 obtained during February and March from cows that came fresh in the 

 fall, will be found to give fair average results and is really of more value 

 than that obtained when cows are fersh. Fortunately it so happened that 

 from the time that stall feeding began in the autumn, until the fifth day 

 of November, 1894, the cows received the same ration that they did from 

 February 11 to April 21, 1895. Beginning with the 5th of November and 

 ending with the 18th, no grain other than ground wheat was fed. From 

 November 19th until February 10th, inclusive, the herd, was fed on fixed 

 ration, nothing being fed ad ilb. The object of the experiment was to 

 compare wheat with barley and corn (maize). The following table gives 

 the daily average dry matter and nutrients consumed by each cow and the 

 daily average yield of butter fat, including all the cows employed in the 

 experiment. ■•! 



