
A STUDY OF RATIONS FED TO MILCH COWS. aia 
SUMMARY OF RESULTS ON SEVEN HERDS. 
The fourteen tests with seven herds are summarized in the 
preceding table. The rations fed each herd in the different 
tests, the cost of the rations, the daily milk and butter product, 
and the cost of food to produce 100 pounds of milk and one 
pound of butter, are given in such a way that the results from 
- the two rations can be easily compared. From this table it 
will be seen that the narrow rations used, that is, those con- 
taining relatively large quantities of protein, were the cheaper 
and gave larger yields of milk and butter in the majority of 
cases. The greater cost of the rations in the case of herds A, 
B and C is due to the higher cost of grain feeds during the 
winter of 1893 and 1894. 
THE HFFHCT OF NARROW RATIONS ON MILK FLOW AND 
BUTTER VIELD. 
At the time of the second test in each case the cows were 
four weeks farther along in the period of lactation, and would, 
in consequence, naturally have fallen off in milk flow and but- 
ter yield. It is impossible to say exactly how much this 
natural shrinkage would have been. In animals as near calv- 
ing as some of these were the shrinkage would have been 
large; while in the case of cows in ‘‘flush,’’ the decrease 
would have been less marked. From a record of a herd of 
native cows and Ayrshires, extending over 15 years, includ- 
ing 83 different animals and 210 calvings, the New York 
‘Experiment Station concluded that ‘‘the natural falling off in 
milk for each month from calving is about g per cent. of the 
yield of the preceding month.’’ The shrinkage in butter 
yield would, of course, be less, because the milk grows richer 
in fat as the period of lactation advances. 
From the summary of the past two winters’ work it will be 
seen that there was an increase in the milk flow in three cases, 
when the animals were fed on the narrow ration, over that 
obtained when the animals were fed on the wide ration, and in 
three other cases the yields were practically the same, although 
in these cases the herds were four to six weeks further along 
in the period of lactation when the narrow ration was fed. Of 
the six herds which were fed the wider ration, followed by the 
narrower one, all except one gave an increase in butter yield 
during the second test. | 

