DAIRY me;e;ting. 141 



has calved. Now we are sure that bran will not hurt her, nor 

 ground oats, if we do not overfeed on them. We generally 

 start out on a small ration, that is, what we call a dry cow 

 ration, the ration she had just previous to calving, perhaps two 

 or three pounds, or it may be eight pounds. We know all our 

 cows and feed the ration that is particularly adapted to that 

 cow or set of cows, as nearly as possible. I am not going to 

 give you any definite ration, because I believe the time has 

 gone by when any one can advise definitely so far as a 

 feeding ration is concerned. Your conditions and my con- 

 ditions are dififerent. The roughage you grow on your farm 

 may be different from the roughage I grow on mine, or the 

 grains you grow may be different from those grown by your 

 neighbors, or the market conditions are such that you can buy 

 one sort of feed cheaper than another man can buy it. Of 

 course this wall have to be determined by your conditions, but 

 I would like to leave out the fever-producing foods for the first 

 few days, and then work up. I assume, of course, that you 

 have milk records and are weighing- your milk daily, because 

 I do not believe any dairyman can afford not to do this. The 

 question is not. Can I afford to weight it? but, Can I afford 

 not to weigh it ? I know you say that you cannot afford the 

 time, but I know this to be true, — that the men in the State of 

 Maine who are weighing their milk know more about their 

 cows and are able to get more out of them than the men who 

 are not weighing it. It is very well to weigh the milk one day 

 a month but I should certainly say that you could afford to 

 weigh it every day. The actual amount of time it takes is 

 very small. And I am beginning to believe that it is just as 

 essential to have a sheet up where the feeding records can be 

 recorded also. I do not mean necessarily that every time you 

 feed your cows you should weigh the feed, but it will be an 

 easy matter to weigh the amount a certain dish will hold and 

 you can come very near getting the same amount each time. 

 I do not mean, either, that you should v/eigh the hay every 

 time, but I think it is advisable to occasionally weigh it to see 

 how much the cows are eating; not to limit them, but so that 

 you can know the amount they are eating and determine the 

 cost. I found that in weighing hay for a bunch of cattle for 

 a period of six months, after the first two or three weeks we 



