118 COURSE OF FEEDING. 



to be fed, and they rest quietly till the time arrives. Go 

 into a well-regulated dairy establishment an hour before 

 the time of feeding, and scarcely an animal will rise to 

 its feet; while, if it happens to be the hour of feeding, 

 the whole herd will be likely to rise and seize their 

 food with an avidity and relish not to be mistaken. 



With respect to the exact routine to be pursued, no 

 rule could be prescribed which would apply to all cases ; 

 and each individual must be governed, much by circum- 

 stances, both in respect to the particular kinds of feed 

 at different seasons of the year, and the system of feed- 

 ing. I have found in my own practice, and in the prac- 

 tice of the most successful dairymen, that, in order to 

 encourage the largest secretion of milk in stalled cows, 

 one of the best courses is, to feed in the morning, 

 either at the time of milking — which I prefer — or imme- 

 diately after, with cut feed, consisting of hay, oats, 

 millet, or corn-stalks, mixed with shorts, and Indian, lin- 

 seed, or cotton-seed meal, thoroughly moistened with 

 water. If in winter, hot or warm water is far better 

 than cold. If given at milking-time, the cows will gen- 

 erally give down the milk more readily. The stalls and 

 mangers ought always to be well cleaned out first. 



Roots and long hay may be given during the day; and 

 at the evening milking, or directly after, another gen- 

 erous meal of cut feed, well moistened and mixed, 

 as in the morning. No very concentrated food, like 

 grains alone or oil-cakes, should, it seems to me, be fed 

 early in the morning on an empty stomach, though it is 

 sanctioned by the practice in the London milk-dairies. 

 The processes of digestion go on best when the stom- 

 ach is sufficiently distended ; and for this purpose the 

 bulk of food is almost as important as the nutritive 

 qualities. The flavor of some roots, as cabbages and 

 turnips, is more apt to be imparted to the flesh and 



