1890.] PUBLIC DOCUMENT — No. 4. 107 



become injurious. "We may give an excess of any feed and 

 bad results follow, or we may make an improper combina- 

 tion of healthy foods and produce a bad effect. For in- 

 stance, corn meal is an excellent feed, and cotton-seed is, 

 also ; and, chemically, the two would balance each other 

 and make a perfect ration. But no farmer would think of 

 feeding his cows exclusively on corn meal and cotton-seed 

 meal, for he knows that each has a tendency toward pro- 

 ducing a feverish state of the system, and each would aggra- 

 vate the effects of the other, and so produce sickness. It 

 has been found by experience that at least one-half of the grain 

 fed should be of a character not to produce fever ; among 

 grains of this nature are shorts, bran, middlings, etc. If, 

 then, one is going to feed three pounds of a mixture of 

 corn meal and cotton-seed, he should feed with it at least 

 three pounds of bran, middlings, ground oats, or something 

 of that character. So, too, stock do better, or are better 

 in health, when the ration consists part of green fodder and 

 part of dry. There is little doubt but that the digestion 

 is better and a larger return is given for the food con- 

 sumed, when part of the ration is given in the green state. 

 This is especially true if the production is being forced by 

 giving large quantities of concentrated grain. 



2. The A.nhnal must he Comfortable in all its Sur- 

 roundings. — Our present dairy cow is an artificial animal. 

 The large quantity of milk, the long-continued flow, and 

 especially the richness of the milk, have been developed in 

 the animal through a long series of breeding and selection 

 with that object in view. Now, if anything occurs that is 

 disagreeable to the cow, she will show the effect, first of all, 

 in that part of her organization which is most artificial ; that 

 is, in the production of milk. If she is chased by dogs, 

 worried by flies, thirsty, or uncomfortable physically from 

 any cause, the effect is seen at once at the milk pail. This 

 effect is two-fold : there is not only a shrinkage in quantity, 

 but, contrary to the generally received idea, there is a 

 decrease in the quality of the milk given under these con- 

 ditions. The general rule is, that when a cow shrinks in 

 quantity there is an increase in quality. This is always 

 true of that shrinkage that comes naturally as the cow gets 



