362 Effective Farming 



187. Feeding dairy cows in summer. Summer and winter 

 feeding of dairy cows involve different problems. In summer 

 pasturage and soiling crops are available and thus the cows 

 can obtain abundant succulent feed, while in winter they are 

 confined to stalls and as fresh grass and soiling crops are not 

 in season, they must be supplied succulent feed in some other 

 way. 



Cows on pasture. Grass is conducive to medium produc- 

 tion, but, even with the best pastures, supplementary feeds 

 are necessary for the highest production. For medium pro- 

 duction, grass will supply all the food necessary, as it is 

 practically a balanced ration for dairy cows. Supplement- 

 ing pastures with grain is sometimes advisable. Eckles of 

 the Missouri Station suggests the following for cows of the 

 different breeds : 



Jersey cow producing 



20 pounds of milk daily 3 pounds of grain 



25 pounds of milk daily 4 pounds of grain 



30 pounds of milk daily 6 pounds of grain 



35 pounds of milk daily 8 pounds of grain 



40 pounds of milk daily 10 pounds of grain 



Holstein-Friesian or Ayrshire cow producing 



25 pounds of milk daily 3 pounds of grain 



30 pounds of milk daily 5 pounds of grain 



35 pounds of milk daily . 7 pounds of grain 



40 pounds of milk daily 9 pounds of grain 



50 pounds of milk daily ... ... 10 pounds of grain 



Concerning these quantities and the rule of feeding, the 

 Dairy Division of the United States Department of Agricul- 

 ture says : 



While this is, of course, an arbitrary rule and variations should be 

 made to suit different conditions and individual cows, it is in accord 

 with good feeding practice and probably is as good a rule of its kind 

 as has been formulated. 



As grain mixtures for this purpose, the Dairy Division sug- 

 gests the following : 



