FEEDING FARM ANIMALS 



much of the grazing season. The chief objectien to it is 

 the labor involved in removing the droppings, but this 

 is largely offset by the increased value of the same as com- 

 pared with having it deposited in the pastures where much 

 waste follows. Much may also be done to prevent the 

 multiplication of flies by promptly removing all the manure 

 from the yards in the spring, and by drawing daily or at 

 quite short intervals that made subsequently and applying 

 it when needed. A free use of lime in the yards is also 

 further helpful. The methods of darkening and ventilating 

 the stables, the mixtures used in spraying and the exact 

 nature of the blankets are foreign to the design of this 

 work and will be discussed in one that is to follow on the 

 Feeding and Management of Cattle. 



Gentle summer rains do not harm cows in milk while 

 in the pastures. They may prove grateful to them. It is 

 different with violent rains. Even though not cold, they 

 are in some degree harmful. But most of all is exposure 

 to long and cold rains harmful, and all the more so when 

 these are intense. Such rains occasionally occur both in 

 the late spring and the early autumn, lasting in some in- 

 stances for three days at a time. Prolonged exposure to 

 one such storm may result in a lessened milk flow which 

 may not be recovered from for many days. The wisdom of 

 housing milch cows at night as soon as the nights are 

 cool enough to produce any discomfort, will be readily 

 apparent. 



Shelter for cows in winter. The necessity for provid- 

 ing cows with suitable shelter in winter is based : ( I ) On 

 the relative inability of the system to resist the influences 

 of low temperatures when not in high flesh; (2) on the 

 marked susceptibility of the function of milk secretion to 

 changes of temperature, especially to those that bring cold, 

 and (3) because of the favorable influence which furnish- 

 ing such protection exerts on the economy of production. 



The cow in milk usually carries only a moderate 

 amount of flesh and but little fat. On the other hand, the 



