58 STORRS AGRICULTURAL EXPERIMENT STATION. - 
RECAPITULATION OF RATIONS FED AND YIELDS OF MILK AND 
BUTTER IN THE TESTS OF CONNECTICUT DAIRY 
HERDS DURING FIVE SEASONS. 
As the study of dairy rations and the cooperative experi- 
ments in feeding dairy herds which were begun by this Station 
in 1892 have now covered a period of five years, a general 
summary of the results seems proper in this place. . 
The cooperative experiments have included forty-five tests 
with thirty-two different herds. ‘Thirteen of the herds were 
used for two tests each. The total number of cows was 453. 
The breeds and grades were as follows: 
Breeds and grades, and number of cows in each division of the 
thirty-two herds studied. 


| Durham | 
Ayrshire. | Devon. Guernsey. | Holstein. | Jersey. | Swiss. | Native. Total. 
or 
Shorthorn. 


R.| G. LER, G. Re 
gaia as ie ee 
2 6 I | II I 
GauR hGH ad’ Gea) Rh oue ri peel 








| 
| 
| 
| 
| 
| 5. 126 | 23.1 3° | 19 | 37259 | 3.1240 55 ame 

R.=Registered. G.=Grade. 
The forty-five rations in the same number of tests included 
thirty-two which were found in actual use by some of the more 
intelligent and successful dairymen in the State, and thirteen 
rations which were proposed by the Station to test the effect 
of larger amounts of protein than those used by the feeders. 
These thirteen tests with the narrower rations were made after 
the studies of the actual feeding practice in the same number 
of cases. The number of cows in each herd (2. e., in the lot 
used for the test) ranged from eight to twenty and averaged 
fourteen. The average estimated live weight per cow of the 
several herds ranged from 600 to goo pounds, and .the average 
of all the herds was 800 pounds per cow. 
The forty-five rations as fed contained from 1.15 to 3.26 
pounds of digestible protein, averaging 2.1 pounds, and the 
fuel values ranged from 21,150 to 35,150 calories, averaging 
27,750 calories. ‘The nutritive ratios ranged from 1:3.3 to 
I: 11.3, with an average of 1:6.5. 
Thirteen of these forty-five rations were proposed by the 
Station, so that thirty-two rations represent the feeding prac- 
tice as actually found in operation in this State. 

