FEEDING OF MILCH COWS. 265 



over this food, to extract the nutriment from it. It is undoubt- 

 edly right that she should have sufficient time to do this. If 

 three hours is enough to accomplish this, she should then be 

 fed again ; but if not, why not wait until she has finished ? A 

 well-fed cow will chew her cud continually for six hours if she 

 is not molested ; but should she be offered a good foddering of 

 hay in three hours from the time she was last fed, she will eat it. 



The point fop us to settle here is, whether the cow is better 

 off for being fed in three hours, or to wait six, until she has 

 finished chewing her cud, before she is fed again. I believe that 

 she is better off not to have any food offered her for six hours, 

 or between the morning and afternoon meals. If a man, now 

 feeding a cow six pounds of the best hay and two quarts of meal 

 three times a day in any form, will try feeding the same amount 

 in two meals, or nine pounds of hay and three quarts of meal 

 dry, at a time, giving what water the cow will drink directly 

 after eating, continuing the trial for two weeks, he will be able 

 to decide for himself whether two meals is as good or better for 

 the cow than three. 



A long experience, with a careful study of the wants and 

 habits of the dairy cow, has convinced me that she will consume 

 the same amount of fodder in less time, will drink more, and be 

 better filled up, keep in better condition, with less care, and 

 give more milk, than when fed three times. 



If I had but one, or only a few cows, I would give all I wished 

 to feed at one meal or one foddering, but, for a large herd, I 

 should prefer to give this meal in three fodderings. The length 

 of time required to feed varies according to the kind of food we 

 are giving. When it is all good hay, it will be eaten in less 

 time than when a part is of a coarse or poor quality, but in 

 either case the cow will eat with a good appetite. As a rule, I 

 would say, two hours is sufficient for one meal, or two and a 

 half in the morning and one and a half in the evening. More 

 time is required in the morning, as the roots and meal are fed 

 at this time. My reason for feeding these in the morning is 

 because there is a much longer time between the evening and 

 morning meals, and the cow is therefore in a better condition to 

 eat a richer and heartier meal. 



If a cow, after becoming dry, loses flesh, as she sometimes 

 does before calving, especially when the calf is a male, and the 

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