Democratic Northwest. [volume] (Napoleon, Ohio) 1869-1894, 1890-04-10
THE DAIRY.
Ration for Mich cow.


II pays to put little thought upon
the feed we give our milch cows, for the
same grains and folders differently
mixed will give different results. and we
can often combine the foods we have on
our farms so as to give much better re-
suits for the same money value than We
are now getting. Ifa farmer has plenty
of good clover hay he may feed more
corn with good results than If he is
feeding timothy. If we have to buy
some feed to piece out what we have on
hand we should consider what will be
the most economical for us to get to
combine with what we have. A case in
point is the answer Prof. j. W. Sanborn
gave through the Breeders Gazette to
an Illinois dairyman who asked: What is
the best combination of food to be fed
along with brewers grains, ofwhich the
COWS have got all they can eat, my OBJ
ject being to produce the largest guam
tity of milk at least possible cost; clover
is worth $5 per ton, timothy 81 to So,
corn-meal $l4, ground oats $16, bran
50, shorts So.
l have no hesitation in recommending
clover hay and shorts at the prices
named as the cheapest foods. Their
direct feeding value is greater than the
other foods named, while their ma
nurial value is greater than the other
foods. The shorts for manure are worth
twice as much as the corn-meal. while
they contain more nutrition per dollars
worth of food by any known theory of
| food valuation now recognized. My
own trials of corn meal against bran
have shown that pound of bran will
not make as much milk nor as much
butter as corn-meal, but the difference
was but about II per cent, while the
difference in the cost of corn above that
of bran is 55.5 per cent.
Clover at $5 per ton is 335 per cent
less costly than timothy, while it con-
tains but about 16 per cent less digesti-
bic matter. Glover is well-known
milk producer. A ration of brewers
grains, bran and clover is very rich
one in proteine. 1t is not bad failing
for COW giving milk. Cows receiving
o ration containing as much proteine as
the above ration will eat considerable
amount of straw and stover or corn
fodder if it is placed within their reach.
They will eat these foods more readily
than they will on rich ration. in corn
meal and timothy. Iwould give them
opportunity to consume all these foods
that they will readily, for each pound OF
straw or stover thus eaten will become
nearly as valuable as the timothy hay.
To crafty the natural desire of COW
for achange Of food l should give some
timothy along with the foods named al
they seem to desire it. More will be
eaten when thus fed, thereby increasing
the excess food consumed overthe above
maintenance ration. Any means Of
feeding that induces COWS to eat a pound
of food over and above what she other
wise would have eaten gives 10 that
pound value double what it would
have been if part of the limited ratior
to which it was added. This is true
| because maintenance ration is ordinarily
| one-half or more of the total ration.
The oats are the most costly food o.
the ration.
The COWS should be watered regularl,
and often. and fed morning, noon ant
night, and be kept warm, or not below
i SO deg. The water drank has direc
bearing on the amount of milk given
although do not mean to say that tn,
| largest possible water consumption il
attended with the largest milk flow, ex
cessive water. consumption may be in
duced by skill and at sacrifice.