The Dupuyer acantha. [volume] (Dupuyer, Mont.) 1894-1904, 1900-08-02
Ratlons for Dairy Cows.

Rations for Dairy Cows.
Prof. d. H. Otis of the Kansas Ag-
ricultural College, in an address to
the Kansas State Board of Agriculture,
said:
During the past two years the Kan
sas experiment station has been test
Ing several combinations of feeds, and
we have found that on pasture or with
soliing crops we can produce a pound
of butter fat at from 6 to 8 cents per
pound. On alfalfa and Kafir-corn meal
we produced butter fat at liz per
pound; with Kafir-corn meal one
third, bran one-third and ground oats
one-third, with what Kafr-corn slower
the cows would eat, we produced u 7
ter fat at 1913 cents per pound; with
Kafir-corn meal one-half and soy-bean
meal one-half, with all the Kafir-corn
stover the cows desired, we produced
butter fat for 1873 cents per pound.
When we were obliged to buy hlgn-
priced concentrates, such as oil-meal,
or ~cottonseed meal, the cost Oh pro-
ducing a pound of fat increased to
is, 16 and II cents per pound. In
figuring the above costs the feeds
grown on the farm were charged at the
price the farmer could realize for them
on the local market. It will be noticed
that where the above rations were pro-
duced exclusively on the farm, butter
fat was not only produced much cheap
er, but the farmer would realize two
~rnRf1 IN 6;1 eool1 n r-% nm w q
them, and second on feeding them TO
his cows. In the ration of alfalfa n
Kafir-corn meal we have two
resisting plants that are excellent
yielders. On good soil alfalfa Will
produce from four to six and even
seven tons of hay per acre. On the
average, alfalfa contains 10.6 per cent
digestible protein, but we have found
by digestion experiments at the Kan
sas State Agricultural College that
good alfalfa hay contains 10 per cent
digestible protein, or p per cent more
than bran. We have also found, after
eleven years of experimenting, that
Kafr corn on upland has averaged us
f~orty-six bushels per acre per annum'
while cor under the same conditions
averaged thirty-four and one-half
bushels per acre. Our highest yield
of Kair corn in any n year was
ninety-eight bushels per acre, while
the highest yield of corn was seventy
four bushels per acre. In drier sec
tons of the country the difference be-
tween the two crops would be still
greater. While a bushel of Kafr corn
is not quite equal to a bushel OF corn
for feeding purposes, an acre OF kahr
corn is worth more than acre of corn.
For those unable to grow alfalfa,
red clover is undoubtedly the next
best roughness, and contains about
two-thirds as much digestible protein
as alfalfa. This can be supplemented
by ~soy-beans, which contain more dl-
gestible protein than oil-meal itself.
During the past season the Kansas
experiment station has grown sixty
acres Of these beans, which yielded
fifteen and one-half bushels per acre,
and cos us for planting, c~ultivating,
harvesting and threshing 55 cents per
bushel. This means that the equiva-
lent Of 937 pounds of oil-meal can be
grown per acre at the rate of $18.19
per ton. Oil-meal is now selling in
Manhattan at $28 per ton. Here is a
saving of nearly $40 per ton to the
farmer who raises his own concen-
trated feed. In addition to this soy
beans contain twice as much fat as
oil-meal. In these days of fierce COM
petition we need to have it our con
slant aim to grow all the feeds we need
right here on the farm. 1t can be
done; it is only a question as to
whether we will arrange u farm and
plan our work to bring about the de-
sired results.