BREEDS OF DAIRY CATTLE 181 



There is a wide difference of opinion among feeders as to the 

 amount of grain that it is profitable to feed daily, and in fact no 

 exact rule can be laid down. Generally speaking, cows weighing 

 800 to 1,000 pounds, that are producing 12 or more quarts of milk a 

 day, can profitably utilize 6 to 8 pounds of grain in 24 hours in addi- 

 tion to the ordinary roughage ration. When milk or cream brings 

 a low price, it might be better management to increase the roughage 

 and decrease the grain to 4 or 5 pounds daily, and on the other hand, 

 where the demand for milk is good and the feeding and productive 

 capacity of the cow is known, 10 and even in some instances 12 

 pounds can be fed to advantage. Heavy milking Holsteins will 

 often use double these amounts when fresh. As the period of lacta- 

 tion advances and the animal fails to respond to the maximum 

 ration, the quantity of concentrates can be somewhat reduced in ac- 

 cordance with the judgment of the feeder. 



It is unwise to feed heavy nitrogenous concentrates unless di- 

 luted with some bulky feed, for the reason that they are likely to be 

 imperfectly chewed, digested and assimilated, and are frequently 

 chewed, digested and assimilated, and are frequent causes of diges- 

 tive disturbances. Wheat bran, distillers' grains, malt sprouts and 

 even chopped hay or silage will serve as proper distributers. In the 

 types of grain mixtures given below, one-third wheat bran has been 

 used in most of the combinations. Some very successful feeders 

 maintain that the most satisfactory rations should contain one-half 

 bran, but the writer is of the opinion that such a mixture would be 

 too expensive for the average feeder. Grain rations should be so 

 compounded that a quart of the combination should not weigh over 

 one pound or even a little less. (Mass. B. 93.) 



Fertility Value of Rations. The matter of fertility values 

 should also be considered in connection with the question of home- 

 grown protein. If the entire feed-supply is derived from the farm 

 itself, then the only increase in fertility elements possible is that due 

 to the nitrogen that has been gathered by alfalfa, red clover, cow 

 peas the other leguminous crops, while when feeds are purchased 

 the increase in fertility elements will be in proportion to the, amounts 

 contained in the manures made from them. In the home-grown 

 ration used here, the gain in fertility would be due entirely to the 



Siantity of nitrogen that would be gathered from the air by the 

 falfa. 



It is not possible to correctly estimate the quantity of nitrogen 

 so gathered, because leguminous crops use both soil and air nitrogen, 

 although the quantity gathered will depend upon the supplies of 

 nitrogen in the soil. That is, nitrogen will be taken frorn the soil 

 in greater proportion in those which are rich in this element. If it 

 is assumed that all of the nitrogen contained in the alfalfa hay used 

 in the experiment was dra\vn from the air, then the quantity was 

 slightly greater than that which was contributed by the purchased 

 feeds. If all was obtained from the land, the farm Is poorer in nitro- 

 gen, because a part is retained in the milk, while the use of the feed 

 ration has made the farm richer in nitrogen by the pounds added 



