The farmer and mechanic. [volume] (Raleigh, N.C.) 18??-19??, 1911-08-22
CARE OF DAlh1
HERBS.
.ATiON
Cows Must Have Good care ana
Comfortable surroundings if They
are to Give the Best RcsufS.

III VNa
are to Give the Best Rcsufs.
To increase the profits from our
herds or decrease the profits Of pro-
Guction we must eliminate the COWS
which individually run Us into debt.
In the second place we must feed
cur COWS more intelligently. the
feeding of a dairy herd to produce
profits more economically is a hard
proposition to put TO aman at the
present time. Under the present con
ditions the only way to produce but
year is by increasing the efficiency OF
our homegrown dairy foods.
The feeding value of our home
grown foods will depend largely upon
their palatability. BY feeding a Va
riety of feeds We make our rations
more appetizing and palatable than a
few foods.
Early cut hay is more suited to the
table than dry folders. Cows that
are fed these appetizing feeds With
clover hay Will eat more hay than
when confined to clover alone.
Early cut hay s more suited to the
ration than late cut hay and the cows
will consume larger quantities of it.
In feeding homegrown feeds we
must feed such foods in a practical
a as will induce the cows to eat
more.
The more easily digested the ration
the larger the milk flow. A certain
moun Of energy is required To pre-
pare these foods for-assimilation. In
feeding coarse foods We find this is a
large per cent.
Tender pasture grass is more easily
digested than dry folders. Again we
see that s%ucculent foods are more
easily djgested than dry folders; that
early cut hay is more easily digested
than late cut hay and that grain and
concentrates are more easily digested
than hay and coarse folders.
we can make a anc ration
from corn ensilage and alfalfa hay.
but such a ration contains an excess
of coarse fiber and requires too great
an expenditure of energy to digest
and aSSimilate it.
Such a ration may be greatly i'm
proved by the addition Of a few
pounds of concentrates.
Cows that ar giving milk must
have an abundance of protein. The
more protein We feed up to a certain
point the larger the milk flow. 1t is
the o of food over and above
that required to maintain the body
that goes to stimulate the milk pro
duction.
The German standard of feeding
calls for n and o~ne-quarter pounds
OF protein fer every ten or twelve
pounds of milk.
Another principle is hat feeding
concentrates rich in nitrogen and
mineral matter increases ~the~value of
the manure and much of the profits
from high feeding must be made
through the fertility brought onto
the farm by the increased value of
the manurial fertility.
But, high feeding is not always the
most profitable. This is a matter that
must be worked out by the man him
self according to his farm and con-
ditionS. Conditions are not the same
on two farms. The difference in cows.
the kinds and amount of available
homegrown foods, the market prices
Of dairy products and dairy foods.
compel each man to work out the
problem as it applies to his own par
milk flow. increasing the foods and
protein until a point is reached that
yields the most profit.
Cows must have. good. care and
comfortable surroundings if they are
to respond to intelligent feeding. The
great problem in connection with the
stable is to keep it warm and Well
ventilated at the same time. Pure air
is just as necessary to the COW as
food. Sunlight is another essential.
Dark stables where sunshine never
reaches breed disease. Sunlight is a
tonic, "a stimulator and invigorator to
all animals.
There seems to be a wide diversity
of opinion among dairymen as to how
much exercise the dairy cow should
have, and I wish to say that l am
not q member of the class who be-
lieve in shutting in the cows from
October until June tho turning
them out for exercise.
There is a muscular lone and vigor
that must be kept up to maintain
health. With all our ~ent
systems of ventilation and improved
methods of tieine the cows. We must
give the cows some outdoor exercise
if We secure the best results of pro-
duction and procreation.