Evening capital news. (Boise, Idaho) 1901-1927, 1916-11-08
THE FEEDING OF
THE DAIRY COW
California Dairy Man Tells
Of System Which Can
Be Used.
BY LEON LEIGHTON.
lin California CuItivation.)

The feed Of the dairy COW varies in
different localities, largely determined
by the sorts of forage most easily
grown.
AS I remember 1t on New England
farm half century ago the cows we're
pastured in summer, fed timothy and
clover hay in winter. with odds and
ends of corn fodder, pumpkins, turnips,
potatoes and bran mash. Later in the
middle west prairie grass and hay,
with corn fodder and corn were fed.
Blue stem hay with a dozen fat ears
OF corn twice a day was our feed for
our fall pack of butter. Excellent but
ter It was; yellow, solid. fine favored
and long keeping.
Since 10 in California, I have no
ticed many different COW feeds, rang
ing from bitter oak leaves to luscious
clover. In mountain valleys. native
grasses afford good pasturage. Hay
from them is not so good. They have
been partly supplanted by tame grass
es and alfalfa, and dairying is largely
followed. In the foothills and interior
valleys Of California the native grasses,
clover clovers and wild oats afford good
pasturage for milk for a few weeks In
spring, then drying they are better for
fat. This confines dairying in those
regions to localities where a naturally
moist soil or irrigation makes the rails
ing of alfalfa a success. No alfalfa,
no dairying.
Probably alfalfa is as near perfect
dairy food as any one plant. It's weak
ness is it's tendency when green to in
L.. hot !, No
the alfalfa dairyman in the matter of
pasturage and puts him to the ex-
pense of making the most of his alfalfa
into hay before feeding. Many pasture
their alfalfa fields after the haying sea-
son is over Alfalfa kept pastured close
is less liable to cause bloat. Close pas
turing is hard on alfalfa
Hay. however. well grown and cured,
is not the milk producer that green
feed is and when badly grown and
cured should have no place in dairy
feed. For the dairy COW alfalfa hay
and tame grass hay also--should be of
thrifty growth, cut when first coming
into bloom and cured slowly and stored
from sun and rain. The first crop Of
alfalfa Is best for milk, but later crops
are good enough if quickly grown and
properly handled. The COW thrives best
with a variety of food, so it is not we'll
to confine her to alfalfa alone. She
relishes a feed of grain hay occasion
ally. If it be desirable to feed grain,
rolled barley. oats, Indian corn, bran.
middlings and the crushed seeds of the
sorghum grains, durra, feterita, milo,
etc, or the unthreshed heads of the
same, are suitable and may be fed re-
gularly in limited quantities; from two
to six quarts at a feed or more If the
hay is scanty or poo-.
Hay and grains lack the succulency
desired in feeds for iAilk and in alb
sence of green paaturage, green for
age should be provided. The small
grains, Indian corn and the tame grass
es are excellent for this at certain
stages of their growth. So also are
clover and alfalfa, but their tendency
to induce bloat is az yinst them. Greer
alfalfa seems safer after 1t has reached
the seed forming stage Of maturity
than before. These green folders are
naturally succeeded by pumpkins. The
cheese pumpkin is best; beets and 9th.