FARM ANIMALS 155 



vetches, soy-beans, field peas, etc. Cows, however, 

 should always receive some grain, no matter what 

 the rest of the ration may be. With regard to the 

 size of the grain ration for cows it is, of course, 

 necessary to graduate this according to the appetite 

 and capability of each cow to utilize grain profit- 

 ably. The grain ration varies in different instances 

 and under different conditions from two to twelve 

 pounds per day. Some cows may not be capable 

 of utilizing economically more than two or three 

 pounds a day while others can give good returns 

 from twelve pounds or, in rare instances, even more. 

 As a rule, the average cow cannot give profitable 

 returns from a larger grain ration than about 

 eight pounds per day. 



As already stated some grain should always be 

 fed in the ration for dairy cows. While they are 

 kept on pasture the kind of grain will naturally 

 vary according to the kind of forage plant which 

 constitutes the pasture. Thus, on alfalfa, clover 

 and cowpeas the grain ration may be largely corn, 

 Kafir corn or other carbonaceous grain while on 

 pasture of rye, wheat, timothy, sorghum, millet, 

 and various other cereals and non-legumes, the 



rain ration should be more highly nitrogenous, 

 imilarly in the winter the character of the grain 

 ration should depend upon the kind of hay which 

 is fed and the amount of silage and roots which 

 complete the ration. 



All dairy cows at all seasons of the year require 

 at least two and for the most part three kinds of 

 food, viz. grain, succulent material and coarse 

 forage. The grains as already indicated may 

 include nearly all of those raised on the farm. 

 Succulence is obtained in the form of silage, soiling 

 crops, pasture and roots, while dry roughage is 



