THE RATE OF GROWTH OF THE DAIRY COW

Abstract

Data are presented on the effect of age on milk secretion in the dairy cow. From the age when milk secretion usually begins (2 years) to the age when maximum body weight is reached (about 8 years) increase of milk secretion and increase of body weight with age follow the same exponential course, which is the course of a monomolecular reaction of chemistry. After this age, unlike body weight which remains practically constant, milk secretion declines exponentially, that is, the course of decline follows the course of decline of a monomolecular reaction. The whole course of milk secretion with age was therefore found to follow approximately the course of two simultaneous, consecutive, monomolecular reactions. This is taken to mean that growth and senescence go on simultaneously from the beginning to the end of life, and that each follows an exponential law with age; and therefore perhaps that the course of the two processes are limited by two consecutive chemical reactions.