MILK PRODUCTION 44! 



laying up as it were of reserve power in the system, to be 

 utilized in future production. 



By the residual effects from feeding grain to cows on 

 pasture is meant the influence which such feeding exerts 

 on future production, more especially on production the 

 following season. An interesting trial was conducted at 

 the Cornell experiment station in order to throw light 

 upon this question. Six cows which had been fed grain 

 somewhat freely the previous summer and six that had 

 not been so fed were grazed in the same pasture. In the 

 test now considered no grain was given to either lot. The 

 return from the lot which had been fed grain the previous 

 season was 16 per cent greater than that from the cows in 

 the other lot. The heifers in the grain-fed lot also made 

 better development, which meant the promise of superior 

 future usefulness. These results coincide with the opinions 

 of many practical men regarding the utility of feeding a 

 light ration of grain to cows in milk through all the season 

 'of pasturing. 



The saving effected in the pasture is in some instances 

 an item of material importance, although in some of these 

 trials it has apparently been lost sight of. It is fail- 

 to assume that a pound of dry matter fed in the 

 form of grain will effect a saving of an equal amount 

 of dry matter in the form of pasture. This would be of 

 little or no importance where the pasture is superabundant, 

 but when pasture is insufficient in supply as is frequently 

 the case, the importance of such a saving would be material. 



The influence on fertilization would also mean some- 

 thing. It would depend on the kind and amount of the 

 grain or meal fed. If cottonseed meal or wheat bran were 

 fed, the enrichment added in the droppings would be ma- 

 terial. The advantage, however, from such fertilization, 

 would be much less than would result from feeding the 

 same amount of grain or meal to sheep that are being grazed. 



The whole question may be summed up as follows: 

 ( i ) When cows are first turned out on grass in the spring, 



