The Middlebury register. [volume] (Middlebury, Vt.) 1850-1882, 1875-07-20
The Economy of Feeding Meal
to Dairy-Cows.


b., has for some years past been exper-
imenting with corn meal as feed for his
dairy cows, and his success has been so
satisfactory that he gave the result of
his experiments in an address deliv-
cred before the American Dairymen's
Association ON the 14th day of March
last. In the opening portion of his ad-
dress Mr.. M. states that sixteen years
ago he happened to mention to an ac-
uuaintance that he was short of hay for
wintering his stock, and was advised to
use scalded corn meal as a substitute, at
the rate of three pints per day keeping
in stall during the winter and watering
by hand. Profiting by this hint, he
dried off his herd of twenty one cows,
and placed them upon an exclusive
meal diet. feeding an average of three
pints. dry, morning and evening, CIV
ing the large cows little more and the
small ones little less. He kept them
in warm, clean. and properly ventila-
ted stables, only turning them out for a
half hour each day for water. The first
three or four days they exhibited symp-
toms of measiness ON this new diet,
but soon regained their usual quiet and
content. AS this experiment was COM
menced as a necessity, and with no
probability. of its being continued
through several years, Mr.. M. did not
of
mencement or end of meal-feeding. In
the spring, when the cows began to
drop their calves, he fed them all the
hay they would eat in the morning,
In every instance they showed decid-
ed preference for meal. When upon
exclusive meal diet that seasonal Pc
riod of nine weeks-rumination ceased
when they had no longer any food to
remssticate. During this time the
cows drank remarkably small guam
tity of water, varying from one to eight
or ten quarts per day. Although ac-
customed to eating daily ration of salt
during the summer, the herd showed
but little inclination to eat it upon
meal but when fed upon hay they at
once resumed the consumption of the
usual amount of salt and water. Mr..
NJ. says he ma lie more than the usual
quantity of butter that season, and
when turned out to grass the cows did
better than they had ever done before
hria xx,h
short of hay, Mr.. NJ. resorted to meal
feeding, in as many winters, five, seven
and eight weeks, and always with the
most satisfactory results. The cows
thus fed invariably did better, when
turned out to grass, than those fed on
hay, the quality of the milk being bet
ter, and the tendency to lay on flesh
being greater.
Mr.. Miller has not only experiment
ed with meal, but has also experiment
ed with meal made from different vari-
cites of corn. Meal made from white
western Indian corn is not so nutritious
as that of. the yellow native corn of
western New York. 1t contains only
a fraction of | per cent. of oil, while
yellow corn contains nearly per cent.
He states that there was marked diff
ference in Its effects upon cattle. Feed
Ing of meal from the white corn soon
caused the hair to look and feel stiff
and harsh; then the skin became dry,
with the appearance of scurvy finally
some of the herd broke out with blotch-
Is along the back and sides. While a
mixture of oii-cake will prevent this
difficulty, Mr.. NJ. prefers to use yellow
meal, and avoid the necessity and ex-
pense Of using oil-cake with meal made
from white corn.
As TO the result Of his experiments
during the winter of ls73-'74. Mr.. Nil.
Ter says:
"At the close Of the season, having
fed no bran or extra feed since the Goth
Of August, find. by factory returns
that my cows averaged fraction less
than twenty pounds per diem for thu
season of five months-May 10 to Octo
Der l0-being one pound and three OF
each per diem more than the average
of 53l cows whose milk was sent to thu
same factory, and AN average OF foul
and half pounds each per diem more
than my cows gave for the correspond
ing season the previous year, wher
wintered on hay. | had also two easei