CATTLE 



20" 



SUCCULENT FEED 



Kind of Ration. — On page 192, a ration was suggested 

 for an eleven hundred pound dairy cow giving 15 lbs. of 

 4% milk. This ration consisted of 4 lbs. of cornmeal, 1 

 lb. of bran, 12 lbs. of clover hay and 10 lbs. of fodder corn. 

 It suppUed all the nutrients in the proportion needed by 

 the cow, and, if the cow were made comfortable and regu- 

 larly fed and milked, she would do fairly well. Such a 

 ration is more economical and will give better returns than 



the ordinary ration of 

 timothy or wild hay, 

 corn stover and some 

 of the common farm 

 grains, as barley or corn. 

 Cows Need Succu- 

 ulent Feed. — We know 

 that cows usually give 

 the most milk when 

 they are in good pas- 

 ture. Their chief feed 

 is then green grass. 

 This fact would indi- 

 cate that such feed is 

 better for milk produc- 

 tion than the diy feeds 

 fed in winter. Green 

 feed is more easily di- 

 gested than dry, coarse 

 fodder, such as hay, 

 fodder corn and corn 

 stover. Less energy, 

 moreover, is required to 

 digest it, it tends to 

 keep the body and di- 

 gestion in better con- 

 dition, and it stimu- 

 lates the appetite. In the winter, when fresh vegetables 

 are scarce and we eat potatoes, bread and meat for a 

 long time, we become tired of them and crave some- 

 thing succulent, as fruit and green vegetables. In well 



Figure 91. — Filling a silo at University 

 Farm. Corn is cut while still green, when 

 ears are well glazed, hauled directly, cut 

 and put in the silo. Silage does not spoil, 

 because air is kept away from it. It is still 

 green and succulent when fed. 



