KEEPING ONE COW. 87 



wholesome than when fed immediately after cutting, and I think 

 my cow relishes it better. By the fifteenth or twentieth of July 

 the clover will have become so ripe as to necessitate the cutting 

 and curing of any that may be left at that time. It may still be 

 fed, however, for a few days, or until the sowed corn becomes 

 large enough to take its place, which is generally about the first of 

 August. This crop, and the second cutting of the clover, will com- 

 plete the course, and will furnish feed until well along into October, 

 or the first of November, after which I depend on purchased food. 



WINTER FEED AND TREATMENT. 



If not previously done, I now procure three thousand pounds of 

 the best early cut clover hay. As my shed is not sufficiently large 

 to store away this amount, I am obliged to stack part of it. I also 

 procure bran and meal. The amount of these which I require for 

 a year's supply is : of bran, one thousand pounds ; of corn meal, 

 one thousand pounds ; and of oat meal, seven hundred and fifty 

 pounds. These amounts, well mixed together, will furnish a feed 

 of eight quarts per day, which amount is diminished during the 

 period in which the cow is dry, and is sometimes increased, if by 

 any means other food is short. It is not advisable to procure all 

 this feed at once, for, if stored, it would be quite likely to heat and 

 mould before it could be used, besides being subject to loss from 

 rats and other vermin. I therefore procure one-sixth of this 

 amount, or two months' supply at a time, and I have often found 

 it convenient and profitable to buy the corn and oats and have 

 them ground myself. The course pursued in feeding from No- 

 vember first until February fifteenth, at which time the cow 

 becomes dry, is similar to that which I have described for the 

 month of April. It is better to dry off the cow four, five, or even 

 six weeks prior to calving. Sometimes, in order to do this, it will 

 be necessary to omit the grain and diminish the quantity of roots 

 for a few days, but after she becomes quite dry I resume feeding 

 as before, except perhaps to lessen the amount of grain until 

 within a few days of calving, when I omit the grain entirely until, 

 as I have before stated, the danger from milk fever, etc., is past. 



' CALYING. 



Some people continue to milk their cows until within a very 

 short time of calving. This is very poor economy. The milk 

 &t such times is thin and insipid, and unfit for food. I have 

 never found any " preparatory treatment" of the cow prior to par- 

 turition, such as physicing, etc., to be necessary; but place her 



