10 June, 1919. J Dairying Industnj of United States. 323 



of her owii body. Unless she is properly and liberally fed she must 

 yield less milk than she is really capable of giving, and finally dry oflf 

 when the stores of nutrients in lier body are depleted. 



The dairy cow m^ay be regarded as a mere milk-making machine. 

 A certain proportion of the power furnished to any machine is used 

 for running the machine itself, and is not in any sense productive. In a 

 steam engine this is represented in the exhaust steam, in heat which 

 escapes without producing steam, and in friction of the working parts 

 of the engine. In the manufacturing plant it is represented by the 

 managerial, clerical, and sales force. These forces, while necessary for 

 the successful operation of the business, are in a sense unproductive. 



In the dairy cow this overhead expense, this unproductive force, is 

 termed the maintenance ration, and is that portion of the feed given the 

 cow which is used by her to perforai her own functions, such as heating 

 the body, pumping the blood, digesting the feed, and moving from place 

 to place. This feed, from a productive stand-point, is entirely lost to 

 the farmer. The cow can produce without loss of body Aveight only after 

 she has exacted this toll of maintenance. All the food she consumes 

 above this can be used for milk production. The m,aintenance ration is 

 a fixed charge, and the more feed a cow can consume above that required 

 for maintenance, the greater the amount available for production. 



Feeding for profit can, therefore, be defined as liberal feeding, or 

 feeding to the full capacity of the cow. 



One of the common mistakes in the feeding of dairy cattle is that 

 the good cows are not fed a sufficient quantity of feed above that 

 required for maintenance. This is especially true of the highly- 

 specialized dairy cow — that is, the eow which, when fed all she will take, 

 makes it into milk, except the portion needed for maintenance. 



A good dairy cow in full milk expends as much energy as a horse at 

 hard work, and she should not be expected to get all her feed from what 

 might be termed roughage, such as hay and silage, or even pasture. How 

 much concentrates (bran, -gluten feed, brewers' grains, &c.) to feed is a 

 question of great economic importance to dairymen, for in most cases 

 hay, pasture, and silage are cheap, and concentrates the costly part of 

 the ration. 



The amount of concentrates to be fed depends on — (a) the quantity 

 and quality of the roughages; (b) the productive capacity of the cow. 

 For the most economic production and the largest profit cows of good 

 dairy temperament, when in full milk, generally receive at least from 

 6 to 8 lbs. of concentrates in addition to all the legume hay and corn 

 silage they will consume. 



Cows SHOULD BE FeD AS INDIVIDUALS. 



One important fact has resulted from the numerous dairying investi- 

 gations at the experiment stations— that the requirements of the cows 

 should be studied individually. Even when liberally fed, cows of 

 marked dairy temperament rarelv lay on flesh when in full flow of 

 milk, provided their ration is well balanced. Since even in well-bred 

 and well-selected herds the different cows vary widely in productive 

 ability, to secure the most profit they must be fed as individuals, instead 

 of giving both high and low producers the same ration. 



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