2. What is the total cost, as well as the net cost, of the daily feed per head in case of the different fodder combinations used; making in all cases alike an allowance of a loss of twenty per cent. of the fertilizing constituents contained in the feed consumed, in consequence of the sale of the milk?

3. What is the commercial value, at current market rates, of the manurial refuse obtainable in the case of different fodder combinations used as daily diet for the support of cows, assuming that eighty per cent. of the value of the fertilizing constituents contained in the fodder consumed can be secured to the farm by a careful management?

The results of these experiments, which extend over a period of five successive years, 1885-89, were summed up in the following statements:

1. The high nutritive value of fodder corn, corn stover and good corn ensilage, as compared with that of English hay, counting in all instances pound for pound of dry vegetable matter, is fully confirmed. The general condition of the animal on trial, as well as the quality and the quantity of the milk obtained, point in that direction.

2. To produce one quart of milk, using the same quantity and quality of grain feed, required in every instance a larger quantity of perfectly dried hay than of either fodder corn, corn stover or corn ensilage, in a corresponding state of dryness, corn stover leading.

3. The net cost of feed in the case of the same ration of grain feed is from one-third to one-half less per quart of milk, when fodder corn, corn stover or corn ensilage serve as substitutes for English hay in the daily diet of milch cows; corn fodder, as a rule, leading, while corn stover leads the corn ensilage in four out of six cases.

4. Sugar beets, as well as carrots, when fed pound for pound of dry matter in place of part of the hay ration, with the same kind and quantity of grain feed, have raised almost without an exception the temporary yield of milk; exceeding, as a rule, the corn ensilage in that direction.

5. Corn ensilage, as well as roots, proved best when fed in place of one-fourth to one-half of the full hay ration. From twenty-five to twenty-seven pounds of roots, or from

thirty-five to forty pounds of corn ensilage per day, with all the hay called for to satisfy the animal in either case, seems, for various reasons, a good proportion, allowing the stated kind and quantity of grain feed.

6. The influence of the various diets used on the quality of the milk seems to depend in a controlling degree on the constitutional characteristics of the animal on trial. The effect is not unfrequently in our case the reverse in different animals depending on the same diet. The increase in the quantity of milk is frequently accompanied by a decrease in solids.

The valuation of the fodder ingredients is based in this connection on the average of the local market price per ton of each article for the entire period of observation : —

The commercial valuation of the fertilizing constituents contained in each fodder article is based on the following market prices: i. e., nitrogen (per pound), 17 cents; phosphoric acid, 6 cents; and potassium oxide, 4 cents. Eighty per cent. of the entire amount of fertilizing constituents contained in the fodder consumed is considered obtainable by proper management, while twenty per cent. is assumed to be sold with the milk.

For further details, see seventh annual report of station, pages 37-47, and 73-84.

It will be apparent, from the above statements, that it was the main aim of our feeding experiments with milch cows, during the years 1885-89, to compare the relative feeding value of our current coarse fodder articles with each other, as, English hay, rowen, fodder corn, corn stover, corn ensilage and roots. To do this judiciously required in all cases the use of the same quantity and quality of grain feed. It is for this reason chiefly that the latter was confined to the same quantity of corn meal, corn and cob meal, wheat bran and gluten meal.

These articles were at any time at our disposal in our local market; all of them could claim a fair reputation for milk production.

During the past year we have changed the object of our feeding experiments with milch cows. Having made ourselves, as far as practicable, familiar with the feeding effect and general economical value of our current coarse homeraised fodder articles, it was decided to compare the feeding value of our prominent concentrated fodder articles (grains, brans, oilcakes, gluten meal, starch feed, etc.) with each other, under otherwise corresponding circumstances.

Some experiments with the two kinds of linseed meal (old and new process) are described within a few subsequent pages.

2. Feeding Experiments with Milch Cows.

Old-process linseed meal vs. new-process linseed meal, Dec. 11, 1889-July 2, 1890.

The feeding experiments subsequently described were instituted chiefly for the purpose of comparing the effect of new-process linseed meal with that of old-process linseed meal, on the quantity and quality of milk produced, and on the cost of feed consumed, when fed in equal weights as an ingredient of an otherwise corresponding daily diet of milch cows. This inquiry into the respective merits of both kinds of linseed meal for dairy purposes has been undertaken in response to frequent inquiries regarding that point on the part of dairymen in our State. The old-process linseed meal is sold, in our local markets, at $27 per ton of 2,000 pounds, and the new-process linseed meal of the Cleveland Linseed Oil Company at $26 for the same weight. The first-named article is obtained when the seed is subjected to the action of a powerful press to secure its oil; while the latter is produced by the aid of a new process, owned by the Cleveland company. The new process favors a more thorough abstraction of the oil, and involves, it is stated, a boiling of the seeds. The difference in the treatment of the seed, for the separation of the oil, explains one of the most characteristic differences in the composition of both kinds of linseed meal; for old-process linseed meal

contains, as a rule, a larger percentage of oil or fat, and a smaller one of organic-nitrogen-containing matter, than the new-process linseed meal. Aside from the stated causes of differences in their composition, there are various other circumstances which not unfrequently contribute towards serious variations in the composition of individual samples of both kinds. Among these is most prominent a more or less advanced state of maturity of the plant when harvested. Our inquiry into the comparative value of both kinds of meal as a fodder ingredient of the daily diet for milch cows has been carried on with articles of the following average composition:

Two had dropped beginning of the

Five cows, grades of various description, all of fair milking qualities, were selected for the trial. their last calves one month before the observation, one five months, and two from eleven to twelve. months. They differed but one year in their respective ages, which were from six to seven years.

English hay, rowen, fodder corn, corn stover, corn ensilage, carrots and sugar beets furnished at different times the main bulk of the daily fodder ration; while corn meal, wheat bran and both kinds of linseed meal alternately served as supplementary feed stuffs to secure a desired high nutritive character for the entire diet. The daily quantity of the grain feed, of roots and of hay, in case corn ensilage furnished largely the coarse feed, was in each case a definite one, decided upon before; it was in each case entirely consumed. The daily consumption of the coarse portion of the particular fodder combination on trial, as hay when fed alone, rowen, fodder corn, corn stover and corn ensilage, depended on the appetite of each individual animal. varied usually somewhat in quantity in case of different COWS. Care was taken to offer to each a liberal quantity. The unconsumed portion was weighed back each day, and subsequently accounted for in the daily feeding record.

It

The fodder corn, corn ensilage and corn stover were obtained from the same variety of corn, "Pride of the North," a dent corn. The ensilage corn and the fodder corn were of a corresponding stage of growth; i.e., with kernel beginning to glaze. The corn stalks were in every case cut into pieces from one and one-half to two inches in length before being fed.

The entire experiment extended over six successive months, and was subdivided into nine distinct periods. The changes in daily diet were made gradually, as customary in well-conducted feeding experiments. The weekly weights of the animals on trial were taken on the same day, in the morning, before milking and feeding.

The adopted valuation of the different fodder articles is based on their local market price per ton of 2,000 pounds, at Amherst :