52 BETTER DAIRY FARMING 



The amount of grain to be fed during the fitting period will 

 depend on the animal's size and condition. Usually she should 

 be fed all she will clean up. Mature cows will eat from ten to 

 twenty or more pounds a day. Of course, if the cow is on excellent 

 pasture much less grain is needed. 



89. Minerals in the fitting ration.— The fitting period 

 corresponds with the time when the animal's demands for lime 

 and phosphorus are high. She is replenishing her bones depleted 

 during her previous lactation and it is the period when the bone 

 development of the foetus is going on most rapidly. The legume 

 hay will furnish lots of lime and the grain mixture is rich in 

 phosphorus. The question is whether the minerals so supplied 

 constitute the maximum the cow can assimilate or whether a 

 further addition would mean a greater storage in the bones. So far 

 as we know no breeder had made a practice of adding minerals at 

 this time. We should like to see it tried and suggest that two per 

 cent of steamed bone meal be added to the grain mixture. 



Perhaps it would be worth while to try to increase the assimila- 

 tion of lime and phosphorus at this time by adding some green or 

 specially cured feed to the ration, or even a little cod liver oil to 

 furnish the vitamine concerned. This point has not been settled 

 absolutely by experiment. If the cow were on pasture this 

 would take care of itself. In winter this would need to be accom- 

 plished by specially curing some alfalfa or other leaf} r roughage so 

 as to preserve its powers of increasing the assimilation of lime and 

 phosphorus as described in paragraph 13. If cod liver oil is used for 

 this purpose, feed one-half pint per week as a drench or with a 

 sjTinge. There is no question about the advantage of maximum 

 storage of these minerals. Any increase beyond that made possible 

 by the ordinary fitting ration would probably not affect a short- 

 time test but it might well aid a cow to hold up on a long-distance 

 record, in view of our knowledge that the bones are gradually de- 

 pleted during the lactation period. At least it would constitute 

 excellent insurance from the standpoint of the animal's health; for 

 an undue depletion of the bones due to a year of forced production 

 might easily have a harmful effect on vigor and later productivity. 



