FEEDING DAIRY CATTLE l8l 



planted on warm land as early in the spring as the 

 weather will permit and planted thickly, by July a 

 great abundance of green forage will be available 

 for green feed. This may be fed in the field in racks, 

 or on the grass, or in the stable mangers. A very 

 large amount of succulent food can be provided in 

 this way at no great expense. 



The barnyard millets make excellent green for- 

 age. They are usually ready by late July or early 

 August. If alfalfa is grown, a good soiling crop is 

 at hand when needed. Corn silage is coming more 

 and more to be depended upon for such critical peri- 

 ods during the summer season and early fall. Where 

 many cows are kept the silo is almost indispensable. 



Let the Feeding Standards Serve as Guides. In 

 the production of milk in winter the outlay neces- 

 sary for food is much greater than in summer. Not 

 only is much home-grown roughage consumed by 

 cows, but large quantities of grain also. In sections 

 where much corn and alfalfa are grown the feeding 

 of dairy cows is simple; but in the more important 

 eastern dairy sections, where corn, if grown at all, 

 is grown largely for silage, and little if any alfalfa 

 or clover is raised, the problem of feeding cows in 

 winter economically calls for great skill, close study 

 and correct use of the feed. 



The most accurate means of determining the ra- 

 tion that any class of cows needs is by calculation 

 based upon the feeding standards. There is more to 

 the balanced ration than is usually credited. If an 

 insufficiency of protein is contained in a given ra- 

 tion, the cow, if she is possessed of a milk-yielding 



