Bristol news. [volume] (Bristol, Va. & Tenn.) 1867-189?, 1873-01-14
BEST Feed for Saiich Cows.

The following is from an essay read
before the Vermont Dairymen's As
ISOLATION by Alexander Hyde, of
Massachusetts,:
But the circumstance that most af-
fects the quality and quantity of the
milk is the food. The luxuriant and
succulent grass Of June produces a
great flow of milk, but the per cent,
of water in it is much above the aver
age of 81. Take cow from green
pasture and feed her on dry hay, and
the quantity of milk will be greatly
diminished, while the quality may be
improved. Everything COW eats af-
fects her milk directly. We have
great faith in cabbages as producing
an abundance of rich milk, but unfOr-
tunately the lady who preSides over
our household has keen senses, and de-
tects in the milk the least flavor of
cabbage or turnip. We have some
times evaded detection by feeding cab
bage leaves moderately at first and
Immediately after milking, but the in
creased quantity aud quality of the
milk, If not the taste, are apt to call
out the sly question, What are you
feeding your COWS on nOw?" Sweet
corn fodder, we are confident, gives a
richer milk than common corn. In
dian meal, all farmers agree, gives a
rich milk, while buckwheat increases
the per cent. of water more rapidly
than 1t does the more valuable proper
ties. Glover, cut green. greatly i'm
proves the quality of milk. Being n
a leguminous plant, it should add to
its casein rather than to its butter.
Pea vines. also leguminous, are eX-
,eTsiTely used at the South, where
the grasses do not flourish, as food for
cows, and are said to produce excel
lent milk. There can be no question
but that grain cut before it goes to seed
will produce more and better milk
than after all its virtues have been
spent in their legitimate purpose of
producing seed after its kind If the
hay has been made from grass as dry
and woody AS Oat stlaw, it may be
benefited by being cut and moistened
but can never be restored to its origi-
nal nutrition any more than the
daughters of Tobias could reiuvenate
their aged father by cutting him up
and boiling him. All the roots add
to the flow of milk and improve its
drink, being largely composed of wa
ter. The feeding of roots do not save
as much hay as some suppose. They
keep the animal in good health and
and are valuable in their sani-
tary and manurial effects rather than
as an economiZer of hay. The in
crease of milk and manure is very
from the feeding of roots
Potatoes make the best of milk, but
at present prices we can hardly afford
to feed those of merchantable size
and quality. The small potatoes can
be put TO no better use than food for
young stock and milch cows. They
furnish much saline matter, thus adj |
ding to the specific gravity of milk |
and to the material for building up !
the frame work of the young animal. /
As an observing dairy woman once |
said to us, Potatoes give body TO |
milk" 1t is cruel to tax cows in win
er for milk and give them nothing !
Dut dry hay from which 20 manufac- |
ure it, ! cut before maturity, this I
nay contains all the elements of milk. |
)ut it is dry fodder, and if it consti- I
utes the only food of the COW, dav af- |
or day, for six months, there is a !
about it which is not provo
,ative of a good appetite As men /
rave and need variety of food, so do |
,ows. a few beets, or turnips, or car
'Ots should be fed to them each day
md the sleek coats of the animals and |
he improved quantity and quality of
heir milk will indicate their appre-
'iation of these roots. One of the
,est and most economical kinds of
eed for cows, both in summer and
winter, is the bran of wheat and rye.
The inorganic part OF grain resides
hiefly in the husk or bran, as may be
cen by burning similar quantities of
inc -four and bran. The nsh of the
after will, on the average, be six times
hat of the former, the ash of dry,
Inc -four being about one per cent,
nd that of bran six per cent. of the
weight Of the whole. Bran, therefore,
hough a dry looking sort of fodder,
: rich in those elements which form
he framework of animals, and DIR.
iraham was doubtless correct when
le advocated making bread from un-
oited flour. Many dairymen prac-
ice putting couple of quarts of wheat
ran into six or eight quarts of whey,
nj feeding it il 10 their cows night
nd morning, thereby improving,
heir milk, their cows and their pas
ares. The improvement of the latter
specially manifest, rs the bran res
pres to them the PHOSPHORUS, sui
hur, potash, lime. soda, etc, of which {
ar pastures have become exhausted,
lese essential constituents of 8 good
oil having been carried off in the
ones of the animals and the grain
nd the dairy products sold. u