36 STORRS AGRICULTURAL EXPERIMENT STATION. 
The prices of the feeding stuffs used in calculating the cost 
of rations were those current in December, 1897. They were 
obtained, in the case of the grain feeds, by sending inquiries to 
grain dealers in five Connecticut cities asking the current prices 
of grains in ton lots, and averaging the figures thus obtained. 
The coarse fodders are based upon the market value of the 
various materials as estimated by farmers. ‘The manurial value 
is based upon figures given in the article on Nitrogenous Feed- 
ing Stuffs beyond. It is assumed that 75 per cent. of the 
nitrogen, phosphoric acid, and potash of the feeding stuffs may 
be saved in the manure. Unfortunately, most farmers take 
such poor care of the manure produced from the materials fed 
to their stock, that a much smaller percentage is usually saved. 
The manurial value of the humus and other organic matters, 
as such, is not taken into account in these estimates, although 
it is at times very considerable. 
DAIRY HERD J.—TESTS 39 AND 4I. 
The tests on this herd were made in December and January, 
with an interval of about two weeks between the tests. Thir-> 
teen cows were included in the tests; the animals were the 
same in both cases. They were all grade Jerseys with the 
exception of one, which was a Jersey-Guernsey cross. The 
estimated average weight of the animals in the herd was 725 
pounds, and the average age was 6 years. At the date of the 
first test the average time since last calf was 4 months. None 
of the animals were due to calve until 6 months or more after 
the close of the second test. The rations actually fed are 
shown in the following table. The main changes between the 
first and the second ration were the substitution of wheat bran 
for corn meal, the addition of cottonseed meal in place of part 
of the Buffalo gluten feed, and a reduction in the amounts of 
hay. ‘This increased the amount and its proportion of protein 
to carbohydrates and thus reduced the nutritive ratio from 1:8 
to about 1:5. The average daily cost of the ration was reduced 
from 16.3 cents to 14.6 cents. ‘The average daily yield of milk 
was less by .5 of a pound in the second test than in the first, but 
the daily yield of butter was larger by .o5 of a pound. The 
total cost of food to produce a hundred pounds of milk was 
reduced seven cents, and.the cost of feed for one pound of 
