The new dominion. [volume] (Morgantown, W. Va.) 1876-1904, 1885-02-14
DAIRY FEEDING.
Some Points In the Management of Mich
Cows.

One of my neighbors who is very sue
| cessful with his dairy tells me one of the
secrets of his success. 1t is that one
man must do all the feeding His plan
would be spoiled by having different
men feed the animals, for this reason:
His study is to get the maximum prod
uct from each cow This product de-
ponds to great extent on the quantity
and quality of the feed He feeds grain
to his cows throughout the entire year
No matter how good his pasture, he
| thinks the best product can not be OBJ
tanned from any one kind of food. In
| feeding grain he differs from his neigh
! bors. He does not feed the same
amount to each animal, nor does he
think they should be fed according to
| size. The amount to feed each an
mai can only be determined by ex-
pertinent and careful observation.
When this amount is determined,
the animals are fed with perfect
regularity. His idea is not to
consult cost in feeding, but thinks what
ever gives the best product will in the
end be most profitable. His cows are
all natives, raised by himself with great
care, and some of them approximate
very closely to the great yields of the
! imported animals. There is very COM
mon idea that the more grain an ami
NAL is fed the better, provided it is
not more than will be consumed regu-
larly without loss of appetite. This evil
IDENTIFY is not true, as decrease in the
| grain ration, even when all is con-
sumed is often accompanied by an in
crease in the quantity and quality of the
milk.
As to the best kinds of food for stock
| there is great difference of opinion
If man wishes to make as much money
as possible by selling milk, he will feed
very differently from what he would if
he wished to make butter of the best
| quality. 1t is the common idea that
cattle should be fed differently for milk,
butter, beef and labor. Now if the
quality and quantity of these products
are to be taken into consideration, it is
probable the feed should be the same
for that which will make the best
blood will give the best product in
all other respects. 1t is probable
that the same chemical elements, and
in the same proportion as compose
the body of the animal, should compose
the feed to give the best results. As we
can not analyze our feed, nor be guided
always by the instructions of the chem
lists, our best policy is to give variety
kinds. Many cattle are wintered en-
tirely on hay, when it would be much
cheaper to feed a portion of grain and
roots. There is one mistake very COM
mon when roots are fed. Too much de-
pen1ence is put upon roots, and the
other rations are not sufficient, and the
| farmer concludes that roots do not do
much good. Even if grain and hay are
fed, the cattle will keep in much better
condition by having some kind of roots
or fruit. Potatoes, or even apples occa-
sionally, are good feed.
| The amount of feed an animal re-
| quires in winter depends to quite an ex-
tent on the temperature. An animal in
the barnyard requires much more than
one in a warm stable. A portion of the
food is burned in the animal to keep up
the temperature of the body When
we burn wood in the stove, the oxygen
of the air unites with the carbon of the
wood and thus the heat is generated eIn
the animal, the carbon of the food takes
the place of the wood, and the oxygen
of the air unites with it in exactly the
same manner. The portion of the food
thus burned is much greater in winter
than in summer
One farmer of my acquaintance, who
has a large dairy, always keeps a rec
ord of the amount of milk from each
COW at each milking. and the name OF
the man who does the milking. He
has the same men milk the same COWS
as much as possible, but as this can not
always be done, by the help of this rec
ord he soon learns who are the poor
mixers and discharges them. This
record also helps him to weed out the
Improbable COWS, as he disposes every
year of all whose average falls below a
given figure
In most parts of the country corn is
sowed for summer feeding, and helps
very much, but this is only one step in
the right direction. 1t pays to sow
different kinds of grain to come on in
succession; and even if the pastures are
good, the COWS will do better by having
variety. The blood of cattle is COM
posed of the same elements as that Of
human beings, and we have been taught
that the best blood was produced by
such food as contained the largest pro-
| portion of nitrogen. This theory APP
pears to have less advocates now than
formerly. We should expect that the
food that contained the largest proper
ton of the elements of butter would
make the most butter, but this is proved
untrue by experiment--A. M. Williams,
| w NJ Y. Examiner.