410 IOWA DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE 



lighted. If you can't afford to give a dairy cow that kind of treatment, 

 don't ever go into the dairy business. Stay out of it. If you can't make 

 up your mind to give that dairy function the kind of care and feed it re- 

 quires don't ever take up with the dairy cow, because she demands care 

 and feed in keeping with her function. She will not return to you a 

 profit if you don't give it to her. If you want an animal that can with- 

 stand cold and hardship, get a Shetland pony. This breed of horses was 

 raised up north and can withstand cold. Their coats grow long and 

 shaggy which protects them amply from rigorous winters of this latitude. 

 But. practically speaking, they produce nothing; then of what value is 

 their power to withstand cold and hardships? » 



Mr. Estel named a cow in his address that gave as much nutriment 

 in one year as six steers weighing 1,250 pounds. A cow that will pro- 

 duce 300 pounds of fat a year is producing as much for human food as 

 two good steers. In other words, a good dairy cow will do as much work 

 as two beef steers, and yet we hear men say they can't afford to keep 

 dairy cows because they are too delicate and lack constitution. 



To illustrate function: Every machine has to be adjusted to its work, 

 the sewing machine for making dresses, etc., and the mowing machine 

 for cutting grass, and each has its peculiar form performing its spe- 

 cific duty. Would you select the running hound for a fighting dog? 

 Would you select the draft horse for the race horse? Therefore, if you 

 intend to enter the dairy business I would advise you to select the dairy 

 bred cow and give her the care necessary for the production of large 

 flows of milk, and that means a warm barn, well lighted and well ventil- 

 ated and plenty of nutritious feed. I will not dwell longer upon the func- 

 tion of the dairy cow and the kind of care she requires, but will say a 

 few words regarding her relation to the soil. The fertility of the soil 

 is a thing that concerns us all. 



In the making of milk the soil is required to give up some of its fer- 

 tility. The crops grown for our live stock take from the soil some of the 

 elements which are necessary for the making of milk. Through the 

 work of investigators it has become possible to determine quite accurately 

 how much fertility is required to produce a definite amount of milk. The 

 chemist has analyzed the different feed stuffs and found that they are 

 made up of different amounts of elements which have come from the soil 

 and air. Milk has been analyzed and found to contain some of the same 

 elements that are found in the soil. In order to present a concrete ex- 

 ample, it becomes necessary to assume the amount of feed a good cow will 

 consume in a year and the amount of milk she will produce. No dairyman 

 should be satisfied to keep a cow unless she produces 7,000 or 8,000 pounds 

 of milk throughout the year testing at least 3.8 per cent. A ration con- 

 sisting of 30 pounds silage, 10 pounds clover hay, 5 pounds corn stover, 4 

 pounds corn chop, 3 pounds bran and 1 pound oil meal will supply ample 

 nutrients for a cow to produce 8,000 pounds of 3.8 per cent milk in a year. 



During the first part of the animal's lactation period, or when she is 

 giving the largest flow of milk, it will require more grain than I have al- 

 lowed for this period, but during the resting period, which will be from 



