758 IOWA DEPARTMENT OP AGRICULTURE 



dairy cow because, unlike the beef steer, she is on feed for a long 

 period and for successive periods. 



Bulk is required to help make digestion in the roomy digestive 

 tract as thorough as possible; moreover, the bulky feeds grown 

 upon the farm are the cheapest feeds. When bulk is lacking the 

 digestive juices do not act as thoroughly upon the small, compact 

 food mass and all the digestible nutrients cannot be utilized. This 

 bulk is obtained not only through feeding alfalfa and clover hays 

 and corn silage, but also by making the grain ration rather bulky. 

 Corn and cob meal, ground oats and bran are bulky and all are 

 good for the dairy cow. 



Succulent feeds are very essential in profitable milk produc- 

 tion. During the summer months succulence may be obtained from 

 pasture grass, until the hot, dry weather makes it necessary to 

 add corn silage or soiling crops. For winter feeding, corn silage 

 is the most economical source of succulence under most farm con- 

 ditions. Succulence is needed partly because the dairy cow is pro- 

 ducing a product high in per cent of water, and partly because it 

 has a good effect upon her system. 



WHAT "BALANCE" MEANS. 



By balance of nutrients, is meant a proper proportion between 

 the digestible nutrients, protein, carbohydrates, fats and ash. The 

 best combination will vary with the individual cow, the quantity 

 and quality of milk she gives, the prices of feed stuffs, and her 

 condition as to whether she is pregnant or not. Cows that have a 

 tendency to become too fleshy need less carbohydrates and more 

 protein in proportion, and cows with the opposite tendency more 

 carbohydrates. As milk contains relatively large amounts of pro- 

 tein, fat and ash, the ration fed should carry a liberal supply of 

 these nutrients so that the cow will not have to draw from her 

 own body to make up a deficit. At the Wisconsin Experiment sta- 

 tion it was found that in 110 days a dairy cow, fed a liberal ration 

 yet one deficient in lime, gave up 25 per cent, of all the line of 

 her skeleton. Similar results have been secured where cows have 

 been fed rations sufficient only to maintain their bodies and not for 

 milk production. Body tissue is sacrificed in order that the cow 

 may secrete milk. Many of the cows on the Iowa farm today are 

 doing this same thing. They produce milk in fair quantities for a 

 few months after calving, not because of the ration made up solely 

 of ear corn, timothy hay and corn stalks, but in spite of it. How- 

 ever, after they have drawn upon their own bodies as long as they 

 can they rapidly decline in milk flow after five or six months. In 

 many cases this lack of persistency is due to inherited characteris- 

 tisc as well as to failure to feed especially for milk production. 



The proper effect of feeds upon the digestive system can be se- 

 cured by a study of the characteristics and influence of different 

 feeds. It is important to consider whether the feed or combination 

 of feeds will have a cooling, laxative effect upon the digestive tract, 

 or whether it will be heating and constipating. 



The ration must be economical. In selecting feed stuffs, thought 

 must be given to the relative values of different feed stuffs as well 



