Graham guardian., 1908-02-14
LET. US LIVE TO LEARN
The Wisdom Of One Generation
HAY Be The FooIishnass Of The
Roxt

For long time we have beer
taught by Investigators, teachers
experiment workers and practlca
dairymen that the milk yield o
the cow depends upon the amour
of digcstible protein In the fooC
consumed, SO general has beer
this teaching and so universal its
acceptance that any man who dare.
to question its truth is regarded as
u heretc in the dairy fold We
have followed this theory of Il
protein balanced ration until we
have often been called upon to
send the larger part of our income
from the cows out West to pay the
grain bills. According to our
lights, there has often seemed no
othai way. 1t has been a case OF
buy protein or go out Of business
with the cows. The practical
effects Of this have been to keep
men out of what is rightly theirs;
they have done the work and the
milkmen have absorbed the profit
But reaction seems to have set
in that bids fair TO upset some of
our practices and change to some
extent the trend of popular
thought We now find ourselves
asking if it has not been case Of
the bliud leading the blind, until
both have flllen into ditch of
error.
Certain il IS that present prac-
tices are tending away from those
Of the past, and we are trying to
find our way out of the ditch, up
on the solid ground of right prac
tices. The cost of concentrates
has been. going up by such rapid
strides that we have been Obliged
to seek some other source of food
We have been forced to go to the
COW and ask if she cannot make
milk out Of some less costly food.
To our surprise she has responded
to the demand to such "a degree
that we find ourselves now asking
if we have been protein mad.
May it not be true that ia blind
ly following the path marked out
for us we have. failed to see an
easier road to profit which has
been close beside the path all the
time? Is it true that the value of
a food as milk maker depends
largely upon its protein contents?
Science has said so; practice has
apparently confirmed it Yet, for
all that, the process of milk secre
ton remains mystery. Why is
clover u more valuable hay for
cows in milk than redtop or timo-
thy? Because 1T contains more di-
gestible protein, says the chemist,
and the dairYman applauds his
answer. But is this all of the
TRUTH May there not be some
other reason why it has value
over other hay? | may take clean
oat straw and balance it up with
milk feeds until il has the same
content that clover has,
but it cannot be made to take the
place of clover. By eveay tenet
of the protein theory it ought to
produce the same results as the
clover, yet anybody who knows
enough TO feed COW kaows that
it will not.
Why is ii that well matured,
we'll cared corn, fed green, will
make more milk at less cost tha0
almos, anything else that can be
grown or bought? 1t is not n
balanced ration in theory, but 1t is
far better in practice. 1t canuot
owe its superiority to ITS protein
coatent, as 1t is .relativ sly low.
Why are these things 50? The
right answer, | believe, is found
in two words-palatability and
digcstib,lity. The clover is bette
rellshed than the straw aud mill
feed, and, therefore, pleases tn,
appetite. 1t is more easily digest.
ed, and, therefore, places ~ uu-
natural tax upon the system. For
the same reason corn is better
milk maker than most other farm
products; the cows like il aud they
easily digest it.
Here IS one great question that
never should be lost sight of in
our study of COW foods: Is il rel
ished and easily digested? Given
two food products th,t contain
the same chemical contents, and
the more valuable Que will aiw ,ys