58 The Bulletin 



silo, root crops fill the need admirably. Large yields can be secured of beets, 

 rutabagas, turnips and related crops, all of which make good cow feed when 

 either run through a feed cutter or chopped up by hand enough to prevent 

 the cows from choking on them. 



To produce a large amount of rich milk requires usually more nutrients 

 than the cow is able to get from coarse or succulent forage and ordinary pas- 

 tures. According to the Wolff-Lehmann standard for a 1,000-pound cow 

 yielding 22 pounds of milk daily, an allowance of 29 pounds of dry matter, 

 2.5 pounds of digestible protein, 13 pounds of digestible carbohydrates, and 

 .5 pound of digestible fat should be daily provided. This ration has a much 

 larger proportion of protein than one recommended for fattening cattle. The 

 nutritive ratio between protein and the energy producers is here 1 to 5.7. 

 Henry's ideal ration for supplying this feed consists of 40 pounds of silage, 

 15 pounds of clover hay, 3 pounds of ground corn, and 1 pound of cottonseed 

 meal. Here most of the nutrients come from inexpensive but desirable home 

 grown roughage, requiring only four pounds of concentrates to balance the 

 ration. 



For North Carolina there is no better carrier of protein than cottonseed 

 meal to be added to the dairy ration. Though dangerous when fed to calves 

 and pigs, or even to cattle in unlimited quantities, there is not only no dan- 

 ger when fed to grown cattle in quantities less than six pounds per animal 

 a day, but for economy, palatability and convenience it is unsurpassed. Rarely 

 is it necessary or good economy, however, to feed more than four pounds of 

 cottonseed meal a day. Linseed meal. Gluten meal, and dried distillers* 

 grains are other feeds shipped into the State for their high protein content. 



Dried beet pulp is growing in popular favor among dairymen throughout 

 the State. It invariably increases the milk flow immediately upon being 

 added to the ration, and an appreciable decrease is as quickly noticed on 

 withdrawing it from the ration. This is a feed rich in carbohydrates, poor 

 in protein, and containing no fat. Its cost, owing to scarcity and long dis- 

 tance to factories, renders its use almost prohibitive except under special 

 conditions. 



Perhaps the next most popular feed in the State after cottonseed meal is 

 wheat bran. These two at present prices form the basis of nearly all mix- 

 tures of concentrates, the bran having a decided lightening effect on the 

 meal. A mixture of equal parts of cottonseed meal, wheat bran, dried dis- 

 tillers' grain and dried beet pulp has given excellent results in the dairy at 

 the North Carolina A. and M. College. For a heavy milker getting rather 

 thin, two to four pounds of corn meal is added to the daily ration until 

 normal flesh is regained. 



There is a tendency among dairymen to feed more concentrates or grain 

 than is profitable. The desire seems to be a maximum flow of milk regard- 

 less of cost or economy. The fact is where Herd Testing Associations have 

 not been formed the owner experiences difflculty in separating the robber 

 cows from the profitable ones, nor has he generally taken into consideration 

 the cost of production. The simplest rule that can be given is to feed all the 

 roughage the animal will consume and not more than one pound of grain 

 for three pounds of milk produced. 



ENVIRONMENT. 



The dairy cow responds to kindness. Good feed and good housing may be 

 more than offset by having a dog drive the herd up in the evenings. Un- 

 necessary noise in the barn at milking time may so excite a cow as to ma- 

 terially affect her milk secretion, for, contrary to popular belief, cow's milk 

 is elaborated from the circulatory system largely during the process of 



milking. 



Though other classes of stock, including dry cattle, may stand exposure 

 without apparent injury, such is not the case with milk cows. A severe wind 

 will reduce the milk flow quicker than almost anything else. Good, comfort- 

 able quarters are therefore necessary during severe weather in winter for a 

 paying business. Otherwise too much of the feed is consumed in maintain- 

 ing the normal body temperature. 



On account of the large stomach of the cow, feeding oftener than twice a 



