REPORT OF TEE AGRICULTURIST 61 



SESSIONAL PAPER No. 16 



The meal was scattered on the roughage mixture of roots, ensilage and cut straw 

 after it was before the cattle. The hay given was fed uncut, after the other material 

 had been cleaned up. 



Of course the amount of roughage fed depends on the appetite of the cow; the 

 amount of meal is influenced rather by the amount of milk being produced by the 

 cow in question. 



Her meal ration is gradually increased after calving until at three or four weeks 

 in milk she is supposed to be on full feed. The amount of meal is judged by the milk 

 produced. If she responds freely to the increases in meal, she is fed the more liberally, 

 usually up to that point where an increase in meal does not seem to induce a rela- 

 tively liberal increase in milk flow. One pound of meal for four pounds of milk is 

 liberal feeding; one pound of meal for three pounds of mills:, to leave a profit, necessi- 

 tates selling milk at a higher price than the average farmer may hope for. In this( 

 connection it may be observed that the quality or composition of the meal ration is 

 usually an important factor affecting the milk yield. It is exceedingly important, 

 however, to remember that palatability in the meal as well as in the roughage is an 

 influence that is not infrequently underestimated. Variety in meals fed is advis- 

 able, but variety should mean a blending of meals, not a substitution of one for 

 another at frequent intervals. To illustrate, it is much better to feed a mixture of 

 bran, oats, barley, oil-meal, gluten, cottonseed meal, etc., than to feed any one of them 

 for a time, to be subsequently replaced by some other. 



Generally speaking, the meal ration for dairy cows should be rich in protein, 

 palatable, easily digested and fairly finely ground and blended to suit the roughage 

 ration with which it is fed. Meals vary greatly as to composition and effect upon 

 the digestive organs of the cattle. While some are laxative, some are constipating in 

 tffect, and while some seem to develop appetite, others have the opposite tendency. 



COST OF FEEDING. 



In estimating the cost of feeding, the following prices were charged for feed 

 stuffs, being the average local market rates for the same during the season 1910, save 

 in the case of ensilage and roots, which are charged for at the rate usually affixed 

 in the experimental feeding in all parts of America. 



Pasture per month $ 1 00 per cow 



Bran 20 00 per ton 



Gluten meal 28 00 



Oil meal , 35 00 



Oats 25 00 



Barley 22 00 



Clover hay 7 00 " 



Chaff 4 00 



Roots and ensilage 2 00 ,: 



In estimating the value of the product, 26 cents per pound is allowed for the 

 butter and 20 cents per 100 lbs. for the skim milk. The butter sells at from 25 to 

 35 cents per pound. 



DAIRY HERD RECORDS. 



The Central Experimental Farm dairy herd records as given below make a mode- 

 rate showing. Where cattle are soiled, the cost of feeding during the summer months 

 is, of course, increased, since more laDOur is necessary. 



Records are given for cows that have milked for a sufficiently long time during 

 the year to give a fair indication of tneir ability as producers. A number of heifers 

 that calved just shortly before the thiny-first day of March, and a few cows that were 

 sold soon after the beginning of the fiscal year are, therefore, not reported upon. 



