FOURTEENTH ANNUAL YEAR BOOK— PART VIII. 585 



manner. In fact he soon becomes the whole herd if line breeding is 

 practiced. To illustrate: Let us cross the pure bred sire on a grade cow. 

 The first generation contains half the blood of the sire and half the 

 blood of the dam. If the second generation is bred back to the same 

 animal the resulting offspring will contain three-fourths the blood of 

 the original sire. If this inbreeding is continued at the end of the 

 sixth generation we have the pure bred blood comprising about three- 

 fourths of the herd. The progeny at the end of this period contains nine- 

 ty-eight and four-tenths per cent pure bred blood. It does not mean, 

 however, that the same sire should be used throughout the entire period. 

 This illustration is true whether or not a change in the sire is made. 

 If the sire is especially good, his place in building up the herd is inval- 

 uable. On the other hand if he is especially poor dairying soon becomes 

 an unprofitable business. 



FEEDING FOR MILK PRODUCTION. 



In feeding the dairy cow there are two essential things to keep in 

 mind. The first of these is efficiency or the necessity of feeding enough 

 of the feeds which contain nutrients for the manufacture of milk. The 

 second is economy or the balancing of the ration with the cheapest 

 sources of the necessary nutrients. 



Of the food consumed by the cow sixty per cent is used for maintain- 

 ing the body and forty per cent for the production of milk. As in the case 

 of any animal, the requirements of the body are first taken from the food 

 and if the last forty per cent is not added one cannot expect a large 

 milk flow. In the majority of instances, however, it is not the lack 

 of a sufficient quantity of feed, but the wrong kind for the manufacture of 

 nlilk. Milk contains on the average eighty-seven per cent moisture, five 

 per cent milk sugar, three and one-half per cent protein, three and one- 

 half per cent fat and seventy-five hundredths per cent ash. Since the 

 cow cannot manufacture milk from anything except tbe food which she 

 eats, it is necessary to have all of these constituents contained in her 

 ration. The balanced ration, which is so often spoken of, is simply the 

 proportioning of the various food nutriments in such a manner as to 

 supply the demand. Most of the feeds raised on the farm and fed to 

 cows contain a sufficient quantity of the ingredients in milk with the 

 exception of protein. This is the most needed and the most expensive 

 part of milk. By the use of the ordinary feeds, however, we are 

 getting protein in its most expensive form. Protein is that portion of 

 food which builds up the muscles, bones, tendons, blood, etc., and is the 

 ingredient in milk that makes it white. Carbohydrates are the portions 

 that produce fat and heat. The fats are used for the same purpose as the 

 carbohydrates. 



An ideal ration must be succulent, digestible, palatable, and contain 

 the necessary bulk. It must also be economical. By succulency is 



