SCIENCE AND PRACTICE OF FEEDING 231 



2 lbs. of digestible albuminoids per day, and having a 

 starch equivalent of from 10.75 lbs. to 12 lbs., and for 

 such a cow when yielding 1 gallon of milk per day 

 from 1.1 to 1.4 lbs. of digestible protein, the total daily 

 ration having a starch equivalent of from 8.5 to 9 lbs. 

 Now, when a good dairy cow — one, say, which will 

 yield 4 gallons of milk per day at her flush period — 

 has declined in her milk yield to 1 to 2 gallons, she 

 has reached the stage when, if in calf, an extra strain 

 is thrown upon her. 



Fed strictly according to the Kellner standard, she 

 will come to the calving time in a weak and poor 

 condition. The result is that the calf may also be 

 weak, and invariably after calving, a large amount of 

 food which should go to milk production, is used to 

 tone up the cow. In plainer language, the thin dairy 

 cow, after calving, "puts the grub on to her ribs 

 instead of into the pail," or if by nature she is a 

 heavy milker she loses weight during her flush period. 

 Better fed when drying off or when dry, such a cow 

 would improve in her condition and have a reserve, 

 which she could afford to lose during the heavy milk- 

 ing period. 



The importance of keeping dairy cows reasonably 

 well fed in the later stages of the milking period, and 

 also when dry, cannot, in the writer's opinion, be 

 over emphasised. Again, in the case of a cow which 

 is not in calf when she has commenced to dry up, it 

 is then generally more profitable to feed her well, so 

 that she is fat for beef when finished milking, rather 

 than keep her, even on a low dietary and a long time 

 dry. 



CHEAP PROTEIN 



It must, though, be kept in mind that Kellner and 



