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IOWA DEPARTMENT OP AGRICULTURE 



An Iowa Jersey— Mary Min.sky, No. 188133. She has a record of over 700 pounds 



of butter in a year. 



meant that the feed should contain a sufficient quantity of moisture 

 to make it appetizing. This is one of the great characteristics of silage 

 which makes it a good supplement for blue grass during the winter 

 season. The feed should be digestible, because if it is not used for milk 

 production it is a loss. The cow is a ruminant and handles large 

 quantities of bulky feed, but it is mot good policy to use up the energy 

 of the cow by passing large quantities of food through her which are 

 not used in an economical manner. 



If we are feeding a ration that does not contain enough protein the 

 cow will decrease in production and the profits give way to loss. Many 

 are feeding only corn fodder and timothy hay. They expect their cows 

 to produce twenty and thirty pounds of milk daily. One -can readily 

 understand how impossible it is for the cow to do this when we realize 

 that she would have to eat approximately fifty pounds of these dry 

 feeds every day in order to get necessary protein. Again, we cannot ex- 

 pect a cow to produce thirty pounds of milk a day on silage alone, for 

 she would have to eat 200 pounds every twenty-four hours. 



Protein can be most economically obtained in such feeds as clover or 

 alfalfa hay. These can be raised on any Iowa farm. The cow that Is 



