1905.] Relation of Food to Milk Production. 167 



The study of dairy problems forms an important feature of 

 the work of the Wisconsin Experiment Station, and during the 



tion of milk, butter, and cheese, and into the best system of 

 feeding for a large and economical production of milk. Some 

 of the data which have accumulated have been summarised for 

 the information of farmers in a bulletin recently issued on the 

 relation of food to dairy production. It is pointed out that the 

 production of a cow is influenced in amount or character by a 

 number of different factors, such as the inherent dairy qualities 

 of the cow, the period of lactation, the age of the cow, and the 

 character and amount of the food supplied. 



Great differences exist between different cows in regard to the 

 food consumed for the production of a unit of milk or of butter- 

 fat. No farmer can appreciate how important this difference is 

 until he weighs and tests the milk from each cow in his herd 

 and determines with some degree of accuracy the amount of 

 food eaten. Thus if the cows in the University herd be separated 

 into three groups according to their average production during 

 the years 1898- 1903, it was found that one group produced 

 28 lb. of milk, the second group 23 lb., and the third 18 lb. of 

 milk per day. There was no very great difference in the food 

 actually consumed by each group, so that whereas the best 

 cows produced 100 lb. milk on food containing 89 lb. of dry 

 matter, the cows giving medium and low yields consumed for 

 the same result 105 and 125 lb. of dry matter. The cows pro- 

 ducing the largest quantities of milk and butter-fat were, therefore, 

 much more profitable, and it is of the highest importance to 

 the dairy farmer that he should be in a position to know 

 exactly the quantity of milk yielded, with its average content 

 of butter-fat, by each cow in his herd. In this connection 

 attention may be drawn to the opportunities now afforded to 

 farmers in Great Britain for testing their milk, of which an 

 account was given in this Journal, March, 1905. 



Food has only a secondary influence on the quality, i.e., the 

 richness, of the milk produced by cows, provided they are given 



Relation of 

 Food to Milk 

 Production. 



past six years a herd of about thirty-eight 

 cows and five bulls has been maintained 

 for the purpose of affording material for 

 scientific investigation into the composi- 



