FEEDING OF CATTLE. 639 



less, thrive better and give more milk when kept housed all the time 

 than when exposed to the cold." 



How to Feed to Increase the Quality of Milk There 

 has been an idea which has been dispelled by experiment and experi- 

 ence, that full feeding caused cows to deteriorate, the reverse being 

 proved to be the case. A distinguished French scientist determined 

 by observation that a cow which consumed twenty -two pounds of 

 hay, above the ration required for actual support, yields twenty-two 

 pounds six ounces of milk. A report by a dairyman to the New 

 York State Agricultural Society, states that by careful feeding, 

 closely followed up during a period of five years, the productive- 

 ness of his cows was so greatly improved that whereas in the first 

 year of the five it required a fraction more than thirty-nine pounds 

 of milk to make a pound of butter, in the last year only twenty-one 

 pounds were required. And this result was reached by a system of 

 winter feeding which included a proportion of corn, buckwheat and 

 oats ground together, until the spring grass was available; then 

 during the summer and till about the first of September, grass alone; 

 and during the autumn adding to the grass fodder, corn and pump- 

 kins." This shows that not only is generous feeding good to pro- 

 mote the yield of milk, but that systematic and continuous good 

 feeding will improve the quality as well as the quantity of milk pro- 

 duced, and thus materially enhance its value. 



Best Course of Feeding to Produce Milk It may be 



advantageous to give one or two formulae of rations which are 

 adapted to ensure a large yield of milk, and at the same time keep 

 up the condition of the cow. In this connection we may call 

 attention to the importance of ensilage as cattle food that is straw, 

 grass or cornstalks cut and cured while somewhat green and retain- 

 ing the sugar and juices of the plant. From the following may be 

 selected a course or feed adapted to any locality or the resources of 

 any dairyman: 



MATERIAL. COST. 



1. Meadow hay, 16 Ibp 6.4 cents. 



Wheat bran, 8 " 6.0 " 



Pressed meal, 2 " 3.0 " 



Corn meal, 6 5.0 " 



20.4 cents. 



2. Corn fodder, 18 Ibs 4.5 cents. 



Wheat bran, 8 " 6.0 



Cotton-seed meal, 4 " . . 4.5 " 



Corn meal, 4 " 3.0 " 



18.5 cents. 



