100 BOAED OF AGRICULTURE. [Pub. Doc. 



him to purchase grain, and at the same time get a good flow 

 of milk ? 



Mr. Lane. I believe it is possible, although you don't 

 have as much chance as further south. In New Jersey we 

 often fed a cow on a ration grown entirely on the farm. We 

 fed alfalfa hay, cow pea hay, clover hay and protein foods 

 of that character, combined with corn silage and corn meal 

 grown on the farm, thus making a well-balanced ration. You 

 might be able to do this in New England. You can certainly 

 grow clover hay and corn. As a rule, however, it will pay 

 best to buy some of the protein in the form of cotton-seed 

 and linseed meal, or other feeds rich in protein. This will 

 depend upon prices. 



Professor Shaw. Isn't it better sometimes to feed an 

 unbalanced rather than a balanced ration, and wouldn't it be 

 possible for the farmers of Massachusetts to make more to-day 

 by growing on their own farms and feeding an unbalanced 

 ration, than by paying as they pay for the grain they buy 

 in making a balanced ration? 



Mr. Lane. I don't believe in putting too much stress on 

 the balanced ration. What I mean is, I don't believe it is 

 necessary to have it exactly 1 to 5 or 1 to 6 the year round ; 

 and there are times, as Professor Shaw says, when there is 

 no doubt but what the dairyman will make more money by 

 cutting down the purchased feeds and depending largely upon 

 the foods grown on the farm. It doesn't cost him as much 

 to feed his cows in that way ; but he ought to feed a reasonably 

 well-balanced ration the year round, and plenty of it. I 

 believe you are right, — that a dairyman can very often take 

 the grains and feeds off his own farm and make more money 

 than by buying high-priced feeds. 



Question. Can you increase or decrease the amount of 

 butter fat and solids by changing the feed ? If so, how 

 much ? 



Mr. Lane. You can't change the solids or fat in the milk 

 a great deal. The amount of fat a cow puts into her milk 

 is as natural to her as the spots on her back. It is born in 

 her, and you can't change it very much by feeding; but if 

 you go to extremes in the matter and give her very poor feed 



