CHAPTER XVI 



THE FEEDING OF DAIRY COWS 



THIS all- important subject is one on which no hard 

 and fast rules can be laid down. What may be 

 suitable feed in the Western Province may not suit 

 on the coast of Natal, or what may suit the coast 

 may not do for the Transvaal. By this we do not 

 mean to imply that cows in different parts of South 

 Africa do not eat the same foods, but in dealing 

 with this subject we have to remember first and last 

 that we wish to feed our animals economically by 

 making the best use of those foods nearest to hand. 



Oats and oat hay are extremely valuable feeds 

 for dairy cows. Where they are easily grown, as in 

 the Cape, they may be fed with a liberal hand ; yet 

 this advice to feed oats would not necessarily be 

 good for, say, Durban district, because of the 

 expense of such foods there. On the other hand, 

 maize ensilage, the cheapest and most effective feed 

 in Natal, would be an expensive item at the Cape, 

 and so on. 



The subject of feeding dairy cows is a large one. 

 In America and England it has been reduced almost 



