236 Ensilage. 



you have reached that point, you have found your 

 animal's capacity, and there stop. You will require 

 a pair of scales to weigh each milking, a Babcock to 

 make occasional tests. With these at hand, you can 

 easily find a cow's capacity. To this she should be 

 fed to make her most economical. No one can make 

 a cast-iron feeding ration. Only an intelligent feeder 

 with scales and test at hand can find a cow's capac- 

 ity, and you will be surprised to find that two quarts 

 of the above mixture a day is one cow's limit, and 

 sixteen quarts a day can be taken care of by a cow 

 standing next to her. Balanced rations are, no 

 doubt, all right theoretically, but there comes in 

 capacity of the cow, strength of machinery. A 

 small cow may be, and they generally are, better 

 and more economical feeders than large ones. It 

 takes, we are told, two per cent, of the live weight a 

 day of hay or its equivalent to sustain life. A cow 

 weighing 1,000 Ib. will require twenty pounds that 

 go to run the machine. A cow weighing 1,500 Ib. 

 requires thirty pounds a day, ten pounds a day more 

 to support that extra 500 Ib. of carcass. Ten pounds 

 a day could be put to better use by being fed to the 

 1,000 Ib. cow. Ten pounds a day is 3,500 Ib. a year, 

 or one and three-quarters tons of hay or its equiva- 

 lent. At $12 a ton this equals $20 a year, just to 

 support that extra 500 Ib. of carcass that is no earthly 

 use to the cow or owner until she goes to the block. 

 A 1,500 Ib. cow must yield $20 a year more than a 

 1,000 Ib. cow to pay as well, all other things being 

 equal. This is no fancy sketch. It is a question 



