Centre Democrat. [volume] (Bellefonte, Pa.) 1848-1989, 1881-01-27
High Feeding the Cheapest Manure.

| We have often discussed the effect
OF dairylng in carrying off fertility
in the sale Of milk or cheese. The
thoughtful dairyman will seek some
means Of compensation for this loss.
The greatest real loss occurs when
The cows are very poorly kept, and
receive no food bat what they obtain
from "A scanty pasture and the hay
| put up for winter feeding. They do
not produce as much as when well
kept, and, of course, not as much
fertility is carried of, bat what is
carried off is wholly taken from the
land and 10 means Of compensation
provided. Poor feeding is a slow
process Of starvation, not only Of
cattle, but Of the soil. And, unfOr.
tunatcly, poor feeders take much less
pains 10 save what little manure their
cattle make than good feeders. In
many cases, scarcely load Of good
manure TO the cow goes back upon
| the land in "A form TO do any good.
the principal part Of it being washed
| away into the nearest stream.
Let us suppose that common. spare
! feeding produces 5000 lbs. Of milk
per COW. This contains about l2U
lbs. of cascInc and 81 lbs. Of ash,
and il would carry Off some ~ lbs.
Of nitrogen, 6 lbs OF phosphoric acid
and : lbs. Of potash. These are the
valuable mauurial elements carried
! oil in the milk Of poorly-fed COWS.
If We estimate the nitrogen at its
commercial value, lsc. per pound, the
! phosphoric acid at l2c.. and the pot
ash at SC. per pound, the value car
! rIcd oil Ia the milk will be $ij4:
and this Is more than the profits on
. 5000 lbs. of milk from COW. But
| this Is not all the loss 70 this must
bc added the loss through careless
ness. which j., no doubt. more than the
| loss in the milk.
/ Let it be noted that under this
! spare feeding the cow gets her food Of
support, and enough besides to pro-
duce 5000 lbs. OF milk and il is
certain that all extra food will 90 to
the production Of milk. or TO lay
on flesh above her normal coudi-
/ ton. In most cases. all that must
be deducted from this extra food l.,
The extra production of milk. the
balance of the fcrtiiizing matter il
. contains may hc credited 20 the man.
, are. and should 90 20 replace the
elements in the 5000 lbs of milk.
/ Now. a good COW. under good feeding.
should produce 5000 lbs. OF milk {:
and 1t often happens that the same
COW that only produces 5000 lbs.
under common feeding, will double
that quantity of product under Judi.
cious high feeding. Now let us con.
slider what addition must he made to
her ration 10 double her product of
milk. 1t has been pretty well settled
that IL takes two-thiris Of the food
Of "A cow for hcr support, without jn-
crease of weight or production OF
milk and If this bc reliable data,
then we need only add ouc-ihird to
her present ration TO double the pro-
. duCton.
In making this addition 10 the food
/ of poorly-fcd COWS, the feeder will
better accomplish his object by Sc
Iccting such foods a. will furnish the
largest percentage of the constiiu-
vntS Of the soil carried off. and at the
same time bc best adapted TO the pro-
duction of milk. If the dairyman
would reimburse the the soil FOR the
drafts upon it in the production of
milk, he must use purchased food, or
that not grown upon the soil hc would
improve. And the question to bc
/ first determined l.. can he afford 1t
/ We presume it will be admitted that
he can afford it, if the increased
/ quantity of milk yielded will fully
pay for the purchased food. and
leave the increased value Of the man.
ure as profit; for in this case he will
keep up the fertility Of his land with.
out any expenditure save that OF the
labor required in extra feeding. In
| giving this particular combination of
food, mentioned below, we present it
only as one out of many combina-
tions that may be made.
We will suppose the dairyman TO
give this extra ration, after his cows
have gradually become accustomed
10 it, for : months, or 240 days. Let
the extra ration consist of , lbs. of
malt sprouts, , lbs. of new-process
linseed meal, 2 lbs. of wheat bran,
and lbs of corn meal per day, given
in two feeds. In the following table
we will give the amount of each part
of the ration, its cost for the season,
and the amount of nitrogen, phos-
phoric acid, and potash contained in
each
COMPOSITION ASp vsLrt or ExTRs RATION.
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