No.Computed
average
per day
during		Gain,
Oct. 8
to
Feb. 4.		Gain in
weight
per
week.
Weeks. Qts.Lbs.Lbs.
 1.29 —10 844
 2.27 —16 14063⁄4
 4.31 —15 1688
 6.25 —15 2811⁄3
 7.25 —13 5622⁄3
11.27 —131⁄22811⁄3
Average,271⁄3—14

My cows, during the period under consideration, were treated as follows: During August and September they were on open pasture by day and housed by night; evening and morning they were supplied with mown grass, and two feeds of steamed mixture. Towards the close of September green rape was substituted for the mown grass, with the same allowance of steamed mixture; from the 8th of October, when they were wholly housed, they were supplied with steamed food ad libitum three times per day. After each meal ten to twelve pounds of green rape-plant were given, and nine pounds of hay per day till November; from that time steamed food with cabbages or kohl rabi till the early part or February, when mangold wurzel was substituted. It will be observed that I give hay and roots in limited quantities, and the steamed food ad libitum. I prefer this to apportioning the cake and other concentrated food in equal quantities to each, as this steamed mixture contains more of the elements essential to milk, and each cow is thus at liberty to satisfy her requirements with it. Nos. 2 and 4, which have given the greatest quantity of milk, have eaten more than their share; whilst No. 1, which has given the least milk, has scarcely eaten more than half the quantity of steamed mixture consumed by 2 or 4. The yield of milk and the live weights on the 4th of February and the 4th of March scarcely vary. During February thirty-four pounds of mangold were substituted for kohl rabi; with this change the cows became mere relaxed. My experience in weighing, extending over several years, has shown me that when animals, from change of food, become more relaxed or more costive, their weighings in the former state denote less, whilst in the latter they denote more, than their actual gain in condition. I have known instances in which a month’s weighing, accompanied by relaxation, has shown no gain, whilst, with restored consistency, the gain doubled.

I now proceed to examine the materials of food, their composition, and the probable changes they undergo in the animal economy.

Quantity and description of food supplied to six cows during twenty-seven and a third weeks, and its composition in proximate elements and minerals.

Per
day.		Total
weight
of food
given.		Cost
per ton.		Total
cost.		Weight
of food
when
dried.		Al-
bumen.		Starch.Oil.Fibre.Min-
erals.
lbs.lbs.£s.d.£s.d.lbs.lbs.lbs.lbs.lbs.lbs.
Meadow hay,5610,71540019299,4209904,2572872,933953
Rape-cake,305,7406100161205,4561,8032,177611494171
Malt-combs,91,7225904301,6604117915132088
Bran,91,72261005001,50024680096258100
Beans,91,7229687361,5004647743417653
Green food,20439,032010081465,7408623,0741151,148541
Oat-straw,509,56611507908,4072873,0661004,526428
Bean-straw,122,296115071601,96437672551594217
Total,37972,515 700935,6475,43915,6641,34510,4492,551
=
Nitrogen
888 lbs.

ANALYSIS OF MILK BY HAIDLEN.

Water,873.  
Butter,30.  
Caseine,48.2 
Milk sugar,43.9 
Phosphate of lime,2.31
Magnesia,.42
Iron,.07
Chloride of potassium,1.44
Sodium and Soda,.66
1000.00

Production of milk by 6 cows, average 14 quarts per day each, for 271⁄3 weeks = 16,072 quarts, which at 41 oz. per quart = 41,184 lbs.

lbs.
When dry or free from moisture,5230
Butter in 16,072 quarts, at 30 per 1000=1235
Caseine in 16,072 quarts, at 48.2 per 1000,=1977
Sugar of milk,=1804
Minerals.- Phosphate of lime,99 -=214
Other,115
5230
Gain of weight 500 lbs., of which I compute300lbs. as fat.
200lbs. as flesh.
500