344 Bureau of Farmers' Institutes. 



THE DAIRY COW— CARE ANB FEEDS. 



Do you recommend the keeping of cows in the stable constantly in 

 winter? 



Mr. Terry. — Not if they are milch cows. The modem cow ia 

 purely an artificial one, and she should have abundance of fresh 

 air, and exercise. We used to hear it said that we must keep 

 cows constantly in the stables in winter, in order to secure more 

 butter fat, but there is something else to be considered beside 

 butter fat, and that is the cow's health and that of her progeny. 



Are raw potatoes good to feed milch cows? If not, why not? 



Mr. Terry. — Yes; in small quantities; not more than four quarts 

 per day at first. Possibly, later the quantity may be slightly in- 

 creased. But they are a starchy food and should be properly 

 balanced with some protein foods. 



What shall I feed, if I have timothy, In place of clover? 



Mr. Cook. — You all know the difference between timothy and 

 clover. The latter contains about twice as much protein as does 

 the former. The cow must have the protein. It is not in timothy 

 hay. If you feed that, you wall have to feed more wheat bran, 

 gluten, linseed or some other protein grain, than if you fed clover. 

 I could not answer the gentleman's question except I saw his hay. 



What grain ration would you feed with corn stalks and oat straw now, 

 to cows coming fresh in the spring? 



Mr. Lltchard. — Wheat bran, linseed meal and some ground oats. 

 Cornstalks have a nutritive ratio of 1 to 17, so something must 

 be fed to narrow the ration. These foods will do it. 



About what per cent, of loss is there when feeding ripe whole grain 

 to cows? 



Mr. Converse. — I don't know just what the question means, un- 

 less it be unthreshed grains. As a rule, more feeding value may 

 be gotten from ground grains; but I should mix it with the 

 coarser fodder, as both are more easily and fully digested. 



A Farmer. — I believe there is a loss of fully 50 per cent, in 

 feeding such unthreshed grain, over that ground. If you had en- 

 silage, sprinkle ground grain on it. We have fed it to horses 

 during the last ten years, with good results. When I say ensilage, 



