CHAPTER III 



Capacity 



The capacity of the dairy cow refers to the total amount 

 of food she can consume and digest in a given time with- 

 out injuring her future usefulness. It depends upon the size 

 and strength of her organs of prehension, mastication and 

 digestion. 



According to Professor Henry, 60 per cent of all the 

 cow can eat is required to sustain her body, and only after 

 this amount is provided can there be any return, to the feeder. 

 This being true, it is evident that the greater the capacity 

 of the cow the greater will be the amount of return repre- 

 sented by the 40 per cent. 



Capacious cows are always more ravenous feeders than 

 cows lacking in the development of this characteristic, and 

 for this reason they are less difficult to feed. . It is seldom 

 that the feeder who uses judgment experiences trouble from 

 such animals "going off feed" or sickening from the effects of 

 heavy feeding, but cows that are limited in the amount of 

 food they can handle are a continual source of worry when 

 one attempts to tax them to the limit of their powers of pro- 

 duction. 



Furthermore, the cow with great capacity according to 

 her size is a more economical producer than, the less capacious 

 cow who as a rule is a more dainty feeder, for the former will 

 eat foods rougher in character, and these are often cheaper. 



The Heavily Taxed Organs 



More apparent still becomes the importance of great- 

 ness and strength of feeding and digestive capacity when 

 the fact is recalled that of all parts of the body these organs 

 are most heavily taxed when the animal undergoes heavy 

 feeding. As a rule they are the parts that first give way 

 under the strain of hard work of long duration such as is de- 

 manded of the cow when her efforts are commercialized. 



In this respect she differs greatly from the beef steer 

 which enters the feed-lot. He undergoes heavy feeding for 

 a period of from four months to a year at the most and is 

 sent to the shambles, but the cow to be a desirable individual 

 must be fed year after year and put her food to profitable use 

 throughout a long lifetime without taking time to rest from 



[27] 



