CHAPTER IX 



FARM DAIRYING 



SECTION XLVII THE DAIRY COW 



Success in dairy farming depends largely upon proper 

 feeding of stock. There are two questions that the dairy 

 farmer should always ask himself : first, Am I feeding as 

 cheaply as I can ? second, Am I feeding the best rations 

 for milk and butter production ? Of course cows can be 

 kept alive and in fairly good milk flow upon many different 

 kinds of food; but in feeding, as in everything else, there 

 is an ideal to be sought. 



What, then, is an ideal ration for a dairy cow? Before 

 trying to answer this question, the word ration needs to be 

 explained. By ration is meant a sufficient quantity of food 

 to properly support an animal for one day. If the animal 

 is to have a proper ration, we must bear in mind what the 

 animal needs in order to be best nourished. To get 

 material for muscle, for blood, for milk, and for some 

 other things, the animal needs, in the first place, food that 

 contains protein. To keep warm, to get the necessary 

 amount of fat, etc., the animal must, in the second place, 

 have food containing carbohydrates and fats. These foods 

 must be mixed in right proportions. 



With these facts in mind we are prepared for an answer 

 to the question, What is an ideal ration? 



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