26 STORRS AGRICULTURAL EXPERIMENT STATION, 
A STUDY OF RATIONS FED TO MILCH COV 
CONNEGTICUYT: Vn ttes CAAA 
BY CHAS. D. WOODS AND C. §, PHELPS. ~ \S 

The study of rations fed to milch cows in this State, which was 
begun in the winter of 1892-93, has been continued, and at the 
time of this writing (December, 1894,) the third winter’s exami- 
nation of the actual feeding practice of Connecticut dairymen has 
been commenced. The first winter’s work (1892-93) was de-- 
scribed in detail in the Report of this Station for 1893, pp. 69-115. 
Some account* of this study was given at the winter meeting of 
the State Board of Agriculture at Hartford, in December, 13893, 
and it was the subject of Bulletin 13 of this Station. The results 
of the second winter’s work (1893-94) are here reported. 
Each herd was selected after a personal inspection, or after 
sufficient correspondence to satisfy ourselves of its fitness for the 
proposed test, and a representative of the Station was present 
during the whole period of each test and attended to the details 
of the experiment, such as weighing the feeding stuffs and taking 
samples for analyses, and weighing, sampling and determining 
the butter-fat in the milk. This work was faithfully performed 
by Mr. E. B. Fitts, at that time the Station Assistant in Farm 
E;xperiments. | 
In the first winter’s work (1892-93), which was regarded as 
preliminary to an investigation that might extend over a series of 
years, it was thought better to examine a relatively large number 
of herds, each during a short period, than to make the periods 
longer and the number of herds less. Sixteen herds were visited 
and a five-days’ test was made of each. fe 
In the second winter’s work, 1893-94, six different herds were 
visited, and in four cases the time of study of the management 
and products of each herd was extended to twelve days. ‘The 
analyses of the feeding stuffs were made at once and the weights 
of nutrients in the rations as fed were calculated. In three 

* Notes on Feeding Dairy Stock, by Chas. D. Woods; Report Conn. Board of Agriculture, 
1893, Pp. 182-199. 


