of : 
- Report oF Drrecror or AGRICULTURAL EXPERIMENT STATION. 7 
It is obvious that maximum production is not always and, per- 
haps, rarely associated with maximum profit, even with the same 
individual or different animals of the same breed. 
While an abundant product of milk is, of course, desirable, the 
practical question is to what extent may an increase of product 
be carried along with increase of profit. 
Already enough is known to enable the dairyman to increase 
the quantity and improve the quality of milk by changes in feed- 
ing; but the effects of certain kinds of food, even those very — 
closely allied in chemical composition, is an important subject for 
further investigation. Again, while, perhaps, it may be considered 
probable, it is by no means established that the same ration will 
prove, either for different individuals or for different breeds, the 
most productive and economical. It is by no means improbable 
that in the future there will be a classification of those generally 
admitted as good dairy cows, which will determine their treat- 
ment and feeding, based on, other qualities than those of breed 
merely. i 
No one can have carefully observed a herd of animals without 
remarking individual characteristics, which alone distinguish them, 
and which, being recognized and considered by the intelligent 
herdsman, may largely determine the relative value of such 
animals for the dairy. To illustrate, who has failed to contrast 
the stolid, good-natured, easy-going cow, with the highly-strung, 
nervous and excitable companion, even in the same stable and 
subject to like conditions; and who can doubt that two such 
require differences of management, extending possibly to great 
detail, for the attainment of the best results with each ? 
The importance of this matter appears +o have been clearly 
demonstrated at a recent dairy contest at one of our State fairs, 
where it was found that three Jersey cows gave upon an average 
- eleven per cent less milk per day at the fair, than they did ten 
days later after being returned to their customary quarters}; 
further, this milk contained seventeen per cent less total solids, 
and the amount of fat in the milk was upon an average thirty-two 
per cent less at the fair than when at home. Three Ayrshire cows 
at the same trial gave thirteen per cent less milk containing 
thirteen per cent less total solids and nine per cent less fat at the 
fair than Poe did ten days later at home. 
