FEEDS FOR THE DAIRY COW 393 



of soiling crops to keep up the milk flow when pastures are scanty, for he 

 knows that it is well-nigh impossible to bring the milk flow back to the 

 former amount when once it has been checked by insufficient feed. 



During 3 summers Woll, Humphrey, and Oosterhuis at the Wis- 

 consin Station 129 fed 1 lot of cows which had access to limited pasture 

 a succession of soiling crops in addition to a small allowance of mixed 

 concentrates. Another lot received corn silage instead of soilage. In 2 

 of the trials each lot was given a small allowance of hay. The cows 

 which received soilage were fed on the average 28.1 Ibs. soilage, con- 

 sisting of red clover, peas and oats, sweet corn, field corn, or "succo- 

 tash" (mixed peas, oats and corn). The other lot received 27.3 Ibs. 

 silage a head daily. The production was substantially the same under 

 the two systems of feeding, and the silage was decidedly more economi- 

 cal, due to the large amount of labor required daily to cut by hand 

 and haul the soiling crops. This required from 1 to 2 hours a day for 

 man and horse. Moreover, in order to have the soiling crops best util- 

 ized, it was necessary to run the feed thru a silage cutter. Silage was 

 relished better by the cows than the succession of soiling crops. 



In trials during two years by Frandsen and colleagues at the Nebraska 

 Station, 130 when cows were fed soiling crops thruout the season, there 

 were required on the average to grow and feed the soiling crops, 1.81 

 hours of labor for each 100 Ibs. of milk produced. When corn silage 

 and alfalfa hay were fed instead of the soiling crops, only 1.24 hours of 

 labor were required per 100 Ibs. of milk in raising the crops, harvest- 

 ing them, and feeding them. In these trials a considerably larger 

 acreage was required per cow to provide the feed when the soiling crops 

 were fed than when corn silage and alfalfa hay were used instead. 



In trials during 2 summers by McCandlish at the Iowa Station 131 

 cows fed 37 Ibs. of soiling crops per head daily, in addition to limited 

 pasture and a concentrate mixture, produced no more milk or fat than 

 others fed 22 Ibs. corn silage daily in place of the soiling crops. The 

 higher value of silage, pound for pound, is due to the fact that it contains 

 a much higher percentage of dry matter than most soiling crops. It is 

 evident from these trials that dairymen have good grounds for prefer- 

 ring silage to soilage as a supplement to pasture. 



644. Pasture. Luxuriant pasture furnishes unexcelled feed for dairy 

 cows, for not only is the supply of nutrients liberal, but also the feed 

 is succulent and palatable, and good pasturage is rich in protein, mineral 

 matter, and vitamines. (147-50, 310) Therefore, as is pointed out in 

 Chapter XXIII, success in feeding dairy cattle largely consists in imitat- 

 ing during the rest of the year, June pasture conditions. 



Thruout the northern states, bluegrass is the most common pasture for 

 dairy cattle. This furnishes excellent grazing in spring, early summer, 

 and autumn, but in midsummer it usually furnishes scanty feed. (311) 



129 Wis. Bui. 235. "information to the authors. 



13 Mour. Dairy Science, 4, 1921, pp. 124-157. 



