Vermont Farmer

Value of Skimmed Milk.

The value of skimmed milk is more nearly equal to that of whole milk for food than is usually supposed. Prof. E. W. Stewart says in the Live Stock Journal:

Skimmed milk is fed so irregularly, and so little attention is paid to the exact result, that the farmer's knowledge is very indefinite upon it. For growing the young animal, this milk has much nearer the value of new milk than is generally supposed, having lost only its oil, or cream, retaining the casein, phosphate of lime, and all the most important ingredients necessary to the growth of the young animal. It appeared from experiments published in the July number of the Journal for 1874 that milk, when fed to calves, paid four mills per lb or three cents and four mills per gallon, when only the increase in live weight was counted; but if the whole value of the calf grown upon the milk was taken when 10 weeks old, it produced nearly one cent per lb, or eight and one-half cents per gallon. These experiments, conducted by three separate parties, at the same time, embracing 17 calves, proved that it took on an average 13.19 lbs of skimmed milk to put on one lb live weight. We have fed pigs and found that it takes about 18 lbs of skimmed milk to make one pound dressed pork; and from all the light we have upon this subject it appears not unreasonable to conclude that by feeding judiciously, skim milk may be made to pay on an average four cents a gallon.