No. 4.] DAIRY CATTLE. 75 



younger age, loses its force when it is remembered that this 

 is only true of animals reared under artificial conditions. 



The undue forcing of lactation has been a sore evil in 

 many a dairy otherwise well managed. It can occur only 

 under liberal feeding, and under liberal feeding of grain. 

 The story of all cows subjected to long periods of forced 

 testing has been virtually the same. After a time the cow 

 becomes less capable of producing; her progeny is lacking 

 in vigor, and the entire period of her possible usefulness is 

 greatly lessened. Similar results follow, though less in de- 

 gree, with cows that may not be on test, but are fed heavily 

 on grain. 



The keeper of dairy cattle has on his hands a complicated 

 problem. lie has to face such questions as the following: 

 How much grain may I feed without making the ration too 

 costly ? How much may I feed without injuring vigor in my 

 cattle ? Will it pay me to force maximum production all the 

 time, or should I be content with less of production, and seek 

 to make up for the loss in the lengthening of the period of 

 usefulness in the animals ? These questions will be easily 

 answered by those who have ample field roots or silage on 

 hand, but not so easily by those who have neither. 



It is impossible, of course, to lay down any hard-and-fast 

 rules that shall fix the amounts of meal that should or may 

 be fed with advantage. The qualifying factors are many. 

 The time of the lactation has an influence. The same is true 

 of the power of digestion in the cow, the nature of the fodders 

 fed and the quality and kind of the succulence given. The 

 advice, however, which says that cows should be fed meal 

 practically up to the limit of their consuming power is wrong. 

 No cow can stand up against such feeding for a long time 

 without injury, and such feeding is expensive. Ten pounds 

 of meal per animal per day should seldom be exceeded, and 

 in more instances 8 pounds should be the outside limit. With 

 really good clover or alfafa hay 6 pounds per day would 

 usually be enough. The meal is the expensive ration, and the 

 aim should be to keep it as low in quantity as is compatible 

 with fair results. 



