The St. Cloud journal. [volume] (St. Cloud, Minn.) 1866-1876, 1875-02-11
, FEEDING ,MEAL,TOs COWS. 4,


9aa Mr.. L. w. Miller, of Stockton
, Chatauqua county, N. Y, read an in
teresting paper before the Crawford
County (Pa.l Dairy Convention OF
the above subject.
He began by referring to certain
practices Of his own in feeding meal
to dairy stock when dry and the i'd
verse criticism which has been called
out. Sixteen years ago he happened
to mention to a gentleman that,
(Miller) was short 1'' Of hay foodl
wintering stock and tho gentleman
informed him that he had twice win
tered his cowsu upon neal, once upon
three pint. Of seaiae Amsal pr day.and
once upon three quarts per day. keep
ing in stall all winter and wintering
by hand, and the assurance was given
that under this treatment the COW
came through in excellent condition
and yielded a full product of milk
each season.
Upon this hint, Mr.. Miller ventur-
ed to place his whole herd of 20 COWS,
having first dried them off, upon an
exclusive meal diet, feeding on an
average three pints Of dry corn meal
noraing and evening to each COW,
giving the large COWS a little more
and the small ones u little less. The
COWS were kept in warm, clean, prop
erly-ventilated stables and were only
turned out half an hour each day for
water. They were uneasy the first
three or four days of meal diet, but
after that they had the appearance Of
unusual quiet and content.
Mr.. Miller said he was confident
their rations were ample to satisfy
the wants Of nature and that they did
not lose flesh.
In the spring, when they began to
drop their calves, he fed them all the
hay they would eat in the morning
and in the evening they were fed two
quarts Of meal without hay or fodder
Of any kind. But they showed decid-
ed preference for meal over hay. The
calves dropped were Of the usual size,
strong and healthy, and gave no in
dication of a deficiency OF proper and
essential elements in the food of the
mother. When on the exclusive
meal diet-a period of nine weeks
that season-rumination ceased when
they had no longer any food to re-
masticate. Occasionally one would
refuse her meal, and in such cases it
was his custom to administer table
spoonful of dissolved copperas and
restoration of appetite followed.
When the weather was very stormy
they were kept in and supplied with
water by hand. The amount of wa
ter drank at such times was surpris-
ingly small, varying from one quart,
and in rare cases, to eight or ten
quarts, per day for each COW. He
thinks they would not average five
quarts per day for each COW.
Although accustomed to eating a
daily ration of salt during summer,
they showed but little inclination to
eat it when on meal. But when again
fed upon hay they at once resumed,
consuming the usual quantity of wa
ter and salt.
RESULTS FROM THE MEAL-FED COWS.
Mr.. Miller says he made more
than the usual quantity of butter that
season and when the COWS we're turn
ed to grass they did better than he
had ever known them to do before,
when wintered in the usual way.
Again, he says the factory records
show that his cows are giving five
pounds Of milk each per day more
than they gave during the correspond
ing period the last season, when win
tered on hay, but with this difference
in their treatment: This season his
bill pastures were very short during
the entire season and in consequence
about three quarts dry bran we're fed
to each COW per day. This bran
would no more than make up the de-
fciency in pasture as compared with
the former season. At the close of
the season, having fed no bran nor
extra feed since the Goth Of August,
he finds by factory returns that his
COWS averaged = fraction less than 20
pounds milk per day for the season Of
five months-May 10 to. Oct. 49,
being 10 ounces each per. day more
than the average of the 531 |
cows where milk Was sent to the fac.
tory and an average of Al pounds
milk each per day more than his
COWS gave for the corresponding sea-
sen the previous year when wintered