The ranch. [volume] (Seattle, Wash.) 1902-1914, 1908-10-01
PREVENTING MILK sHRINKAGE.

ticle under this caption in the last
issue of The Ranch, Prof. G. H. Eckles
of Missouri University, says:
There are two factors which largely
control the economical production of
milk One is the adaptability of the
COW used to this purpose and depends
upon her individual and breed char
acteristics. The other is the amount
and kind of food eaten. The problem
confronting the dairyman is the pro-
duction of the largest amount of milk
and butter at least expense. In order
that this may be realized, both the
important factors mentioned must re-
ceive careful attention.
Soon after the COWS are on pasture
they reach the maximum production OF
of milk for the year. This suggests
that what the dairyman must do in or
der that the production of milk may
be the largest, is to initiate these early
summer conditions as far as possible
throughout the remainder of the year.
This is what the careful dairyman and
skilled feeder does, and the results
correspond closely to the success with
which these summer conditions are
maintained.
The summer conditions which bring
about the maximum production and
which are to be maintained as far as
possible throughout the year, are de-
scribed in the following statement:
Cd An abundance of palatable food
CD A balanced ration. 60 Succulent
feed. (4) Moderate temperature. 90
Comfortable surroundings
There is some difference of opinion
on this question from the standpoint
of economy. There is no question but
that COW will produce more milk If
fed grain while on pasture, and II
large yield is of more Importance than
economy of production, grain should
certainly be fed. The COW that gives
a small average quantity of milk will
produce but very little more, If fed
grain while on pasture. However, with
the heavy producing COW the case is
quite different and it is necessary that
she be fed grain or she will not con-
tinue on the high level of production
for a very long time. The necessity
for feeding grain to the high produc-
ing COW arises from the fact that she
can not secure sufficient amount OF
nutrients from the grass alone and
must have some concentrated feed in
the form of grain in order to continue
to produce large quantities of milk.
Experiments made by the Cornell
Experiment Station, covering four
wears, showed that while an increase
of milk yield was secured from grain
feeding, it vas not economical to pro-
duce it in this way. They secured
only about an additional pound of milk
for each pound of grain fed. In these
experiments the pastures produced an
abundance of nutritious grasses. They
observed, however, that the COWS fed
grain during the summer gave better
results after the grazing period was
over than those not having received
grain. This is also a matter OF COM
mon observation, and should be taken
into account in considering the advisa-
bility of feealng grain. The point is
that the COWS fed grain stored con-
siderable quantity of surplus nutrients
in their body which were afterward
available for production of milk.
Where a small amount of grain is
fed, corn is as we'll adapted as any
thing else where it is cheaper than
other feeds, since on account or the
comparative narrow nutritive value OF
the grass the corn does not unbalance
the ration. However, in case of feed
ing large quantities of grain as would
be necessary in the case of COWS pro-
ducing from one and a half to two
pounds of butter fat per day, other
feed containing more protein should
be used in part such as bran, gluten
meal, oats or cottonseed meal.
AS long as fresh pasture grasses are