406 FEEDS AND FEEDING 



III. FEEDING Cows IN THE SUMMER 



659. Feeding the herd on pasture. The proper feeding of milk cows 

 on pasture is much simpler than during the winter, and doubtless this 

 is the reason that so many farmers, busy with their crops, fail to give 

 their herd the necessary attention in summer. Often the cows are 

 merely turned to pasture after milking at night and in the morning, 

 with no further thot as to the supply of feed actually available for them. 

 It is then no wonder that when the pasturage becomes scanty in midsum- 

 mer, the cows run down in flesh and fall off severely in yield of milk. 

 Even if fed liberally when barn feeding starts in the fall, quite com- 

 monly they can not then be brought back to their usual production. 



Many also make the mistake of turning the herd to pasture before 

 the grass is well started. This not only injures the pasture but also 

 is apt to decrease the yield of milk, for such early herbage is watery 

 and contains little nourishment. It is best to wait a few days and 

 also to continue giving the cows some hay or silage in the barn after 

 they are turned to pasture, until there is plenty of good grazing. At all 

 times cows at pasture should be provided with fresh water and shade, 

 and in fly time they had best be protected from flies by spraying with 

 a fly repellant. 



If there is ample pasture, no grain or other additional feed need be 

 fed to any except very high-producing cows when pastures are at their 

 prime in late May and June. However, it is usually advisable to feed 

 cows producing 1 Ib. of fat a day or more some concentrates, unless the 

 grazing is unusually luxuriant. The amount to be fed must be left to the 

 business judgment of the individual dairyman. Later on in July 

 and August, in districts where pastures become parched and scanty 

 at this season, it is essential to provide plenty of feed for all the cows 

 in milk, if a profitable yield is to be maintained. If this is not done 

 the cows will not only drop in flow of milk, but will also run down in 

 flesh so that they will not be in condition to give a good yield the fol- 

 lowing winter. Even when the feeding of concentrates does not ap- 

 parently give an immediate profit, it may yet be highly advisable on 

 account of the after-effect on the cows, as well as the increased value 

 of the manure returned to the pasture when the cattle are fed concen- 

 trates. (437-8) In a trial by Roberts of the New York (Cornell) Sta- 

 tion 16 a lot of cows fed 4 Ibs. of concentrates per head daily on pasture 

 produced 28 per ct. more milk that summer than a lot of cows of similar 

 productive capacity which received no concentrates in addition to pas- 

 ture. Also, presumably due to their better condition, because of the 

 feeding of concentrates the previous summer, they gave more milk 

 the following summer, when neither lot had concentrates when on 

 pasture. 



"N. Y. (Cornell) Buls. 36, 49. 



