The Brinkley argus., 1916-05-05

ing that he Cor she) proposes to carry the work through for the eight lessons. A farmers bulletin will be sent to supplement lesson No. 1. and later for each lesson if the question blank be returned for the preceding lesson. These question blanks will be sent with each bulletin. Preceding les sons may be had on request The ad- ditional lessons on The Growing of Farm Animals will be: (D Growing and Feeding Beef Cat tie, (5) Hog Raising, (6) Growing Horses and Mules. CD Sheep and Goat Raising, (S) Stock Farm Management. III. RAISING AND FEEDING THE
 DAIRY COW.
 By H. E. Dvorachek, Professor of Ami
 nal Husbandry, University
 l of Arkansas.
 1 A discussion of feeding dairy cattle would be incomplete unless one com menced with the development of the dairy heifer since the success of the 1 business depends largely on herd i'm provement. This applies especially to Arkansas dairying in so much as the business is still in it's infancy, and the production per COW is still very low.
 The ability of the heifer to produce at the pail is largely matter of he redity and must not be under estimat- ed, but proper development has a great influence nevertheless. It is es- sential therefore that the heifer calf get a good start and is kept growing rapidly. Whole milk for at least three to four weeks is the best. By that time little grain can be added and the change made to skim milk. This change should be gradual and extend over three to four weeks more. Eight to ten pounds of milk daily is a suf- ficient quantity for the average calf during the first few weeks. This amount can be gradually increased to twelve or fourteen pounds. It Is rarely advisable to feed more than that amount while the calf is on milk. The grain can be increased and by the time the calf is on skim milk 1t will be eating hay. Never use cotton seed meal for calves. Oats, corn chops, wheat bran, and a small quantity of oil meal are the best. Pasture is ex- cellent when they are old enough to keep them growing at all times. It has been proven that generous feed ing of heifars even though they lay on fat is not at all detrimental to their future usefulness. On the other hand such feeding means early matur- ity; that is, the heifer will make sui ficient growth during the shortest pos sible time so that she may be bred early, thereby shortening her non-pro- ductive life, and still make ample growth to insure good sized COW when mature. Make the ration com posed largely of nutritious roughages so as to develop a strong and efficient digestive apparatus, and use grain Tn the ration to force growth.
 The heifer and the mature COW as well should come to the freshening period in good flesh. Surplus fat will be milked down readily if the COW be of the desired dairy temperament. Ten to twelve days before freshening the grain ration should be reduced and laxative, cooling feeds such as silage, roots, or small amounts of linseed meal or wheat bran should be fed
 The value of the dairy COW on the farm lies primarily in her ability to convert roughages commonly grown ln abundance on most farms into a valu- able, nutritious and readily market. able product. The selection of ra- tion should therefore be made with a view ot utilizing such roughages to the greatest possible extent Both during development and when produc- ing milk, the requirement of protein is high so that what is known as a narrow ration must be used. Where the protein can be supplied with le- gume hays, it should be done, as they are generally our cheapest source of protein Extra protein can be sup piled through the grain or cencen- trates. Cotton seed meal is our cheap est protein in Arkansas as a rule. Wheat bran and oats also supply a deficiency in protein quite cheaply.
 A general rule is to feed one pound of grain daily for every three and a half to four pounds of milk produced daily for cows giving milk of average butter fat content, or one pound of grain for every two and half to three pounds of high testing milk. A bet ter rule is to feed pound of grain daily for every pound of butter fat a i COW produces weekly. This means that COW giving 10 pounds of butter fat per week should nave at least 10 pounds of grain daily. The individual needs of the COW must also be taken into consideration in grain feeding ] In feeding daily animals the follow. ing factors should be. observed: Feed ration that will meet the needs ,d the animal especially from the stand | point of protein requirement; : make 1 the ration bulky enough to satisfy the | capacity of the animal, make it paia. l table so that it is eaten with a rel 1 ish. utilize as far as possible crops 1 grown on the farm, and by all means i see to it that the ration is not made |! too expensive, so that profit can be made on the milk produced The lib. t oral f1ae of Ippumoa UflI haIp fp l.,