THe JOURNAL? 



OF 



Tfie department of Mgricufture 



OP 



VICTORIA. 



Vol. XIV. Part 4. 10th April, 1916. 



HAXD FEEDING DAIRY COWS. 



An Experiment. 



B^j B. A. Ban-, Senior Dairy Supervisor. 



The system of haud feeding, or supplementing the grass by concen- 

 trated foods, is regarded by many who have not practised it as 

 unprofitable. Some who do practise the system fail to attain the desired 

 result, due partly to the choice of foods and partly to the amounts given. 



It is only on farms favorably situated that it is possible to provide 

 sufficient fcod to maintain a good herd milking at its full capacity 

 throughout the year; consequently, it is both necessary and profitable 

 to provide such an amount of concentrated food — the farm usually 

 produces an abundance of the bulky food — as bran, oats, pollard, 

 gluten feed, oil cakes, ifec, at such times as the scarcity of grass or 

 farm-grown crops demands, and the price of milk or butt«r-fat warrants, 

 for the reasons given in a previous article, " The Dairy Cow as a 

 Machine."* 



The leading rule in the feed-slied should be: Give the best feed to 

 milking cows, and as much as they will profitably consume. The best 

 feed is that which contains the largest amount of nourisliment for any 

 given price, and is also the cheapest. In selecting feeds, the available 

 nutriment contained in the article is more important than the price. 

 It is not the number of pounds of feed which is purcliased for Is. which 

 determines the relative cheapness of a feed, but the number of pounds 

 of easily-digestible food substances — as protein, carbohydrat.es, and fat. — 

 wliich is obtained for Is. Bran, at £4 10s. per ton, is cheaper than 

 lucerne hay at £2 15s. per ton. Bran, at £4 10s. per ton, is equal in 



• Journal o/ AgriruUure, \ ictoriiv, Januiiry. llUd. \i. :U. 

 :{017. 



