No. 7. DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE. 559 



MR. ECKEET: It seems to me in listening to these discussions 

 that one of the things that leads the average farmer who has not 

 been in the habit of doing these tilings astray is the air of difficulty 

 we throw around these differeut feed problems. I may be wrong, 

 but that is my impression. At our farm the method has been that 

 followed by Mr. Huey, having one pound of grain to three pounds 

 of milk. Sometimes the farmer thinks you have got to weigh the 

 grain every time you give it to the cow. We make up a balanced 

 ration of grain which we don't change during the year. We have a 

 box made that holds exactly two pounds of this grain, and then we 

 string a wire in front of the cows on the feeding alley and we have 

 a board which are tacked cards that have the figure 1, 1^, 2, 2^, 

 3, 3^. I can take a foreigner into the barn and show him the box 

 and the figures and he puts in so many boxes to each cow as indi- 

 cated by the figures on the cards at their stall. We change tliese 

 cards every two weeks. If the cow is dropping from 35 pounds o" 

 milk to say 30 pounds, she is reduced in proportion, so just as the 

 cow begins to go back on us we begin to go back on her, and when 

 she gets down close to the period when we ought to dry her up we 

 start to cut ott:" the grain entirely until the cow is dried off com- 

 pletely. As soon as she is dry we start to feed four pounds of bran 

 and one pound of linseed to meet the requirements Mr. Norton talks 

 about, to put in good condition for maternity. It is wonderfully 

 easy. Don't imagine that systematic feeding is a difficult proijosi- 

 tion if you have some simple method like that. That is our way. 

 It is an easy matter to have an entrance in the barn with the cords 

 with the figures on and for sixty-five cows I can change all the 

 numbers in a half hour. To be sure, I must know how much milk 

 the cows are giving, but I take the milk cards and go through the 

 barn and see what the cow has been giving and tack up a card to 

 suit the requirement. The simplicity of the thing and its effective- 

 ness is what I think should be impressed on any man who is inter- 

 ested in making the feed go as far as possible. You won't have a 

 cow go wrong on you, except once in a while you will probably have 

 a cow that gets a little better in flesh than the rest and then we 

 give her less corn meal. That is the one variation that we make, 

 and our herd is running close to 7,000 pounds; we have got a number 

 of heifers in it and we think that is fair when the feeding is done 

 mechanically. 



ME. PHILIPS: 1 would like to say a few words along this line. 

 It has been my experience in going around dairies and seeing the 

 feeding done, that the best results are obtained by the ordinary 

 farmer where he is in close touch with the individual cows, and 

 where he does not intend to feed in proportion to the milk given. 

 I think our larger records are made in that way, and the man doing 

 his own work is generally in close touch with each individual cow 

 and can feed that cow necessarily better than by set rule. I know 

 these are some cows can make milk on less feed, because they will 

 make 5 pounds of milk to every pound of feed they are getting; and 

 by grading up in that way we are in close touch and I think the 

 best results are obtained. I have told farmers that they could not 

 pick out the best cows unless tested and I believe it is true. Mr. 

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