Rural School Leaflet 867 



time of the appearance of these incisors varies within rather narrow hmits, 

 so that we are able to tell the age of young cattle fairly accurately. A 

 calf also has a temporary set of molars which are later replaced with 

 permanent ones; but they are not considered in estimating the age of the 

 animal. 



5. The stomach of the cow and of the sheep has four compartments. 

 The first three help in the storage and mechanical manipulation of the 

 food. The fourth is the true stomach of these animals, in which that 

 part of the digestion takes place wliich we ordinarily think of as taking 

 place in a stomach. 



A cow chews her food twice. The first compartment of her stomach 

 is large and enables her to eat a large amount of food without stopping 

 to masticate it thoroughly. This food is stored temporarily in the first 

 compartment of her stomach. Later, at leisure, she can lie in the shade 

 and re-chew all her food. After the second chewing, the food is swallowed 

 and passes along to the true stomach and on into the intestines in the 

 regular course of digestion. 



6. Coarse foods are adapted to the requirements 



of the cow. A cow can consume large quantities 



of such coarse foods as hay, cornstalks, and the '^-^^^^■'W'^^'^i^^ 



like. Under modem conditions when cows are ^^"^^^f^^i^^-i^ i 



yielding large quantities of milk a large quantity . . , ,, , 



f ^ • f A ^u ■ ■ A f ^u Age of cattle told by Per- 



ot gram also is fed. The gram is made up of the tnaneiit incisors. The 



ground cereals or the ground by-products from the middle pair marked i 



. . . . - , appear at i8 months of 



manufacture of certain human foods. age; the pair marked 2 



Succulent foods are peculiarly adapted to the appear _ at 27 nionths; 



„, , . , . . the pair marked j, at 



needs of the dairy cow. The best food is, of j6 months; the outer 



course, the natural food of the cow, which is green ^''^''' "^"''^f'^ 4. appear 



*^ at 45 months 



pasture grass. At all times of the year when pas- 

 ture is not available, some succulent food, such as corn silage or roots, 

 should be given. The cow will respond in every way to special care, such 

 as providing a variety in her ration, with some succulent food when 

 possible. 



For convenience in studying in detail the feeding of a cow, we divide 

 her food into five great groups according to composition: water, ash, 

 protein, carbohydrate, and fat. Her food is almost entirely of vegetable 

 origin and the plants or the produce of plants that she eats are made up 

 entirely of these groups of materials. The water in the plant is the same 

 as any pure water with which we are familiar. It serves the plant in two 

 important ways: by filling out the cells and thus helping in the support 

 of the plant, and by transporting the food from the roots, or from wherever 

 it is made, to those cells that need food. The ashoi the plant is the mineral 



