102 BOARD OF AGRICULTURE. [Jan. 



SECOND DAY. 



The meeting opened at the hour appointed, Mr. Cruick- 

 SHANKS in the chair. 



The Chairman. The lecture this morning will be on 

 the " Economical Feeding of Dairy Stock," by Prof. W. W. 

 Cooke of Burlington, Vt., Secretary of the Vermont Board 

 of Agriculture. 



ECONOMICAL FEEDING OF DAIRY STOCK. 



BY PROF. W. W. COOKE OF BURLINGTON, VT. 



In taking up the subject of economical stock-feeding, we 

 shall treat it as including the whole system of the care of 

 stock, from the planting of the crop to the putting of it into 

 the mangers ; for the economical farmer will find abundant 

 chances for the use of economy in all the different stages in 

 his care of stock. In order of time, the first chance for 

 economy is in the determining what crops can be most 

 profitably raised for fodder. 



Our farmers nowadays do not need to be taught that farm- 

 ing to be profitable should use up on the farm the crops 

 raised to prevent the plant food they contain from being 

 carried off the farm ; and they also ought not to need to be 

 instructed that more profit comes from feeding what is raised 

 on the farm than from feeding what is brought from outside 

 of the farm. 



In planning what crops to raise, the farmer needs to take 

 into account, of course, the kind of stock, and the purpose 

 for which he is going to raise the food, and get what is 

 adapted to his purpose. 



Most of the forage crops raised on the fiirm are useful for 

 feeding to the dairy ; but there is a wide difference in the 

 cost of raising the same amount of feeding value in these 



