Thikty-slxth Annual Convention 997 



to be permanent and the former milk flow never regained nntil 

 another freshening period. It is this fact that renders the mis- 

 take so great on the part of the farmer of feeding his cows by 

 seasons of the year. It is generally the case that an abnndance 

 of food is provided for winter and when the cows leave the pasture 

 in the fall they are well fed and cared for until spring. As 

 summer approaches they are turned to pasture and soon all grain 

 and dry roughage is taken from them. During the early season 

 they thrive and produce largely because of the luxuriance of 

 pasturage. Later the annual drouth of the summer comes, grass 

 becomes short, heat intense and flies troublesome, and as a natural 

 sequence the cow declines in her milk flow. Short feed may con- 

 tinue for only a few days and the owner, looking forward to the 

 coming rains to freshen the pasture, does not concern himself, 

 considering the loss of a few pounds of milk a day for a short 

 period of little consequence. In this manner he deceives him- 

 self, for even when a more abundant supply of feed is given the 

 cow she fails to respond with an increase in milk flow, and the 

 final result is that the loss of a few pounds of milk daily continues 

 throughout the remainder of the lactation period, reducing the 

 annual production of the cow from profit to loss. 



It is for this reason that from the time the cow freshens until 

 she has finished her year's work she should be fed according to 

 her ability to produce rather than in accordance with custom, 

 season of the year or other conditions. This is possible only in 

 such cases as the dairyman weighs the milk regularly, for there 

 is no other index except the milk sheet that will warn him of a 

 decline in the milk flow. 



It is just as easy to change the cow's feed upon the first 

 indication of necessity as to wait until it is too late. Therefore, 

 it is onlv necessarv to search at once for the cause for the de- 

 cline and eliminate that cause. In this manner and in no other 

 can the feeder know the amount and character of food any par- 

 ticular individual should have at a given time. 



By gradually increasing or decreasing the ration, and by add- 

 ing to or taking from the ration certain foods and noting the 

 results occasioned, by weighing the milk continuously, it is pos- 

 sible to most economically secure the greatest milk flow every day 



