FEEDING THROUGH LACTATION PERIOD 11 



the cheapest cost. Thus, the farmer should think first of the kind 

 and amount of roughage and home-grown grains he has and then 

 decide what feeds he should buy to go with them. Here he has the 

 choice of purchasing certain separate feeds and mixing his own 

 ration or of choosing among the various proprietary feeds one that 

 will go best with the materials he has at home. We will first con- 

 sider grain mixtures from the point of view that the dairyman 

 will mix his own. 



22. Variety. — The mixture should have variety. No one 

 would think of making the grain mixture entirely of one feed. 

 There should be at least three ingredients so selected that in the 

 entire ration, including the roughage, at least four plants are 

 represented. A mixture of corn meal, gluten and hominy would 

 not do because all of these feeds come from the same plant. 



23. Palatability. — Of course the mixture must consist of feeds 

 the animal likes, — it must be palatable. More feed will be eaten 

 where it is pleasing to the taste. Nice sweet hay will be consumed 

 liberally, where moldy, improperly cured hay will be refused 

 entirely. There is a considerable difference in palatability among 

 the feeds that can be used in the grain ration and the animal will 

 eat more if its ration is palatable. Also a palatable ration is more 

 digestible. 



24. Bulk. — The mixture should have bulk. We class wheat 

 bran, ground oats, distillers' grains, etc., as bulky feeds, in con- 

 trast to corn meal, the oil meals, etc. Feed lacking bulk forms a 

 compact mass in the stomach which is digested more slowly and 

 with difficulty. Every mixture should be made up in part of 

 bulky materials. 



It is a good thing to have at least one laxative feed in the grain 

 ration. This is very important when no succulence is fed. Wheat 

 bran and oil meal are laxative feeds. 



25. Protein. — The protein content of the grain mixture is of 

 greatest importance. The cow cannot produce the milk she is 

 capable of unless she gets enough protein. Farm surveys in New 

 York State have shown that the average farmer does not feed 

 enough protein and that the one who is feeding the most is the one 



