54 



Feeding Trials with Dairy Cows. 



and even with the same cow on different occasions. The 

 interval from the morning to the evening milking was shorter 

 than that from the evening to the morning, but the times of 

 milking were fairly constant. 



Experiments to determine the influence of food on the 

 quality of milk were also carried out last year on the herd 

 of cows belonging to the South Eastern Agricultural College 

 at Wye. These experiments began on October 20th. Six 

 cows were selected for the purpose, their stall numbers being 

 1, 25, 31, 34, 35, and 38, On October 20th when the ex- 

 periment began, all six cows were lying out at grass day 

 and night, and receiving in addition to pasture a daily ration 

 of 56 lbs. cabbage, 4 lbs. bean meal, and 3 lbs. barley meal. On 

 November 2nd, they were all taken in at night, when jibs, oat 

 straw was added to the ration to make up for loss of grass ; 

 and in order to act as a check or standard, two of the cows, 

 Xos. 34 and 38, were kept during the whole period of the 

 experiment on this combination of foods. 



On November 4th, cows Nos. 1 and 3 5 were given in 

 addition to the foregoing, 61bs. of maize meal daily, while 

 Nos. 25 and 31 were given 4 lbs. linseed cake instead of 

 the maize meal. After a month the rations were reversed ; 

 the maize meal was fed to cows Nos. 25 and 31, and linseed 

 was given to Nos. 1 and 35 ; and these diets were continued 

 in each case till the close of the trial on December 22nd. 

 The changes of food were made to test the effects on the milk 

 of an actual increase in the quantity of food given, and of 

 a change from a high to a low albuminoid ration. 



The table below shows the weight of milk per week 

 produced by each cow, and the percentage of butter fat. 



It would appear that, in accordance with general experi- 

 ence, a fall in the yield oi milk was accompanied by a rise in 

 the percentage of butter fat. The marked drop in the percent- 

 age of fat in the third week is said to be probably due to 

 climatic influence, as raw, foggy weather was experienced at 

 that period. 



The results of the trials generally tended to demonstrate 

 that a change from a low diet in point of quantity to a more 

 plentiful one, or a change from a medium diet in albuminoids 



