of seed per acre should be sown on well-drained land in the spring, with 

 or without a crop. It should not be pastured or cut the first year. It 

 will give two or three cuttings each year after it is established. 



To supplement pastures, green peas and oats, or summer silage are 

 often necessary. These help to maintain the milk flow at a time when the 

 shrinkage would otherwise be considerable- From two to four pounds of 

 meal per cow each day will often pay when the prices of dairy produce 

 are good. This meal may consist of bran and oats, or either of them 

 alone. 



For winter feeding, corn silage is undoubtedly the cheapest bulky 

 food at the disposal of dairymen. However, corn silage aione is not suf- 

 ficient for milking cows. They also need some clover hay, roots, and 

 meal. When dry it pays to feed the cows a moderate amount of meal, 

 as it seems to be a recognized principle that the time to renew a cow is 

 when she is not milking. Too many put their cows on short rations when 

 they are not milking, thus violating the foregoing principle, and the re- 

 sults are not satisfactory. It pays to feed a good cow well when dry. 

 With heavy milkers there is danger of losing the cows through "milk 

 fever," but modern methods of treating this disease make it compara- 

 tively harmless, and there is very much less risk now than formerly. 

 Under ordinary conditions the best plan with heavy milkers in high 

 flesh is to not milk the cow any more than is required for the calf for the 

 first two or three days. If the cow is attacked, the "air treatment" is 

 simple and effective. 



On the one hand many cow feeders fail to give their animals 

 sufficient to maintain a proper milk flow, while on the other some feeders 

 give more meal than the cows can profitably assimilate. Experiments in- 

 dicate that cows in full flow of milk should receive about eight pounds 

 of meal daily, together with all the roughage which they can consume. 

 An increase to twelve pounds of meal daily in most cases means an added 

 cost for the milk and butter out of proportion to the increased yield. 



The winter feed at the dairy barn of the College is prepared as fol- 

 lows : The hay is cut and mixfed with the corn silage and pulped man- 

 gels for several hours before feeding. This roughage is given at two 

 feeds, and on it is placed the meal for each cow at the time of feeding. 

 The meal consists of bran, oats and oilmeal. A feed of long hay is us- 

 jually given once a day in addition to the regular feed. 



Our standard ration consists of about 



40 lbs. corn silage, 4 lbs. wheat bran, 



10 lbs. clover hay, 3 lbs. ground oats, 



30 lbs. mangels, 1 lb. oil meal. 



