14 BULLETIN 945, U. S. DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE. 
tained in her rations during the years 1914, 1915, 1916, and 1917 
were calculated and compared with the quantities required for her 
maintenance and for her milk and fat yield according to the Savage 
standard, and it was found that she received, on the average, a sur- 
plus of about 8 per cent protein and about 9 per cent total nutri- 
ment. She was on pasture for 46 days during the four years under 
consideration. She calved normally in the autumn of each year. 
Her dry periods were 50 days on the average. 
In 1914 she gave 12,182 pounds of milk; in 1915, 8,269 pounds; in 
1916, 7,224 pounds; in 1917, 5,708 pounds; and in 1918, 1,796 pounds. 
In 1918, she was given a dry period of 78 days, and, during the last 
40 days of this period, was fed a much more liberal ration than 
during her previous dry periods. She calved October 30, 1918, and 
her milk .yield for 1919 rose to 8,711 pounds. 
During her dry periods in 1914, 1915, 1916, and 1917 she was fed 
approximately the same rations as those fed to cow 17 in her corre- 
sponding dry periods. During the last 40 days of her 1918 dry 
period she was fed daily 11 pounds of grain mixture C, 11 pounds 
alfalfa hay, and 26 pounds corn silage. Her milk yields in pounds 
for the first clear month after calving in each of the five years under 
consideration were as follows: December, 1914, 1,138 pounds; Octo- 
ber, 1915, 1,230 pounds; October, 1916, 896 pounds; October, 1917, 
579 pounds; December, 1918, 1,293 pounds. 
For the same reasons as have been given in the case of cow 17, the 
greatly increased milk yield after the 1918 calving is to be attributed 
to the more liberal ration fed in the 1918 dry period. It should be 
mentioned that this cow was milked three times a day during De- 
cember, 1918, and only twice in the other months above recorded. 
But the increase in milk yield to be expected from this change in 
treatment has been much studied at Beltsville ; it could hardly have 
been more than 10 per cent in a case such as that under consideration. 
The actual increase as between October, 1917, and December, 1918, 
was more than 120 per cent. 
EFFECTS, ON MILK YIELD, OF FEEDING PHOSPHATE WITH ALTERNATED 
RATIONS DURING DRY PERIOD. 
These experiments may be generally described as follows : Cows were 
dried off about two months before they were clue to calve and were 
fed, during their dry periods, a basal ration containing 3 to 6 pounds 
of grain, 4 to 5 pounds of alfalfa hay, and 30 pounds of corn silage. 
Half of the animals were used as controls and were fed the basal 
rations without supplement. The others received the same basal 
rations supplemented with sodium phosphate, the grain and hay of 
the rations being fed on alternate days. In many cases the same 
