JO Aug., ipoS.] T lie Breeding of the Dairy Cow. 459 



. are two kinds of cows kept in most herds, those that eat more than thev 

 make, and those that make more than they eat. " Feed for quantit\- 

 and breed for quality " is a golden rule where the dairy cow is con- 

 cerned. 'Cows cannot change the relative proportions of their milk to 

 suit our convenience j all we can do with feed is to assist the cow to 

 produce a large quantitv of milk of her own individual proportions. 



The principle of balancing the elements of food so that the cow may 

 l)e best assisted to make milk and in profitable quantities, the study of 

 environment, how to promote her health and comfort, and the treatment 

 meted out to her, all have an important bearing on the return in milk 

 she will produce from the feed given her. The cow to keep in the 

 herd is one that has the ability to turn all the food she may eat and 

 digest, over and above that required for her maintenance, toward the 

 udder, there to be transformed into milk. The capacitv of a cow for 

 producing milk depends largely upon her capability for digesting food 

 and assimilating it into her tissues. Dairymen who profit most bv the 

 keeping of cows soon learn to familiarize them.selves with these important 

 characteristics, and understand their relationship to capacity for produc- 

 tion. Feeding the dairv cow for profit involves a minute study of each 

 animal in the herd j it requires the knowledge of the amount of milk and 

 fat each cow is capable of producing. 



Dairy farming is becoming intensive rather than extensive. Tt is not 

 uncommon now to hear of persons r^ing profitable crops from apparenth 

 poor land, while other people receive no return at all from land of 

 similar texture. The value of the manure made from good feeding is 

 more and more appreciated by the farmer as he uses it to renovate his 

 depleted soil, robbed of both its humus and its nitrogen by continual 

 cropping. This loss can be avoided bv raising more fodder, keeping 

 more stock, and thereby making more manure. Care must, however, be 

 taken to provide a sufficiently rapid rotation of crops to insure good soil 

 texture, and at the same time, abundance of fodder to be mixed with 

 silage, a plentiful supply of which should always be available. 



As the silo preserves the green succulent fodder throughout the year 

 better results are obtained than when crops are converted into hay. 

 One important reason in favour of silage is that its preparation is founded 

 on the fact that all green fodders contain about 75 per cent, of water, 

 and 10 per cent, of fibre. When they are dried, the water has shrunk 

 to 20 per cent, and the fibre has increased to over 40 per cent. Much 

 of the nutriment in the succulent state therefore becomes woody fibre 

 in the dry prepared fodder. The blood and lean meat in the animal 

 are mostly derived from the protein in the food eaten, and not from 

 the carbo-hydrates, or fat, whicli only produce heat, energv, and fat. Tt 

 is literallv true that the protein does make all these substances but at 

 too great an expense to be practically carried out. One- fourth of the 

 solids in milk is protein and it therefore follows that the more milk a 

 cow gives, the more protein she requires. For the silo grow plentv of 

 maize and leguminous crops. The maize should be allowed to thoroughly 

 mature and not cut until the grain has reached the dent stage of 

 growth. Lucerne is still better, as ri lbs. of it are equivalent to 

 8 lbs. of bran. It would pav farmers handsomely to go in for more 

 lucerne cultivation. Peas and oats, mixed and sowed at the rate of 

 z to 3 bushels to the acre, and cut when the oat heads are well formed 

 and the peas are in bloom, make a splendid feed high in protein, and one 

 greatlv relished bv the cow. 



