36 DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE. 



of dairy cows contain enough lime and phosphorus, but salt should be supplied extra. 

 The legumes and grasses are high in lime. The cereals, oilcakes, and brans are rich 

 in phosphorus. In many cases where soft water is drunk there may be a lack of 

 lime or of both lime and phosphorus. These minerals can be supplied by feeding 

 precipitated phosphate, ~bone-ash, or ground rock phosphaYe. 



NOTES ON FEEDS. 

 TIMOTHY HAY. 



This forage is too much used by dairy-farmers. It is woody and unpalatable 

 as usually cured, and is poor in protein. This makes it necessary to feed with it 

 large quantities of concentrates rich in protein. Corn stover is in the same class. 



LEGUME HAY. 



Alfalfa and clover are the best hays, alfalfa being the richer of the two. Both 

 are palatable and high in protein and mineral matter, especially lime. In one 

 experiment 14 Ib. alfalfa hay replaced 7 Ib. timothy and 7 Ib. grain without loss 

 in the milk-flow. Alfalfa is an excellent soiling crop, giving at least three crops iu 

 a season. A bulletin is issued by the Department on alfalfa-growing. Alsike clover 

 is adapted to a wet situation where it is too moist for red clover to do well. Soy- 

 bean hay is equal to alfalfa in feeding value. Soy-beacs are not yet grown much 

 in this Province. 



SILAGE. 



Either silage or roots will provide the succulence necessary in the cow's ration. 

 Fed in combination with legume hay they make ideal roughage. Corn silage can 

 be put up cheaper than roots can be grown. It is more fibrous than roots, and about 

 35 Ib. a day is enough for one day for a small cow and 4" to 45 Ib. for a large animal. 

 In feeding value. 450 Ib. corn silage equals about 100 Ib. mixed hay. Silage should 

 be fed after milking, so that the odour is not absorbed by the milk from the air. 

 Otherwise silage will not taint milk if properly made. Oats and peas, winter wht-::t 

 and vetch, clover, alfalfa, etc., are sometimes made into silage. The feeding of 

 silage in summer is bound to become more general. 



Many silos for storing silage are being built every year in British Columbia. 

 The silo has solved a hard problem in dairying the providing of a cheap, succulent 

 feed ready for use at any time throughout the year. The Department sends out 

 free information about silo-building and silage. Do not feed frozen silage. 



If silage could be made more like the composition of green grass, richer in 

 protein, by the addition of soy-beans, alfalfa, clover, oats, peas, etc.. it would furnish 

 a ration rich enough in protein to nearly do away with the necessity of feeding 

 grains. 



It was found that cows receiving 4 Ib. grain, with 58 Ib. silage composed of 

 2 parts soy-beans. 1 part cow-peas, and 7% parts corn silage, yielded more milk 

 and fat than cows of similar capacity getting 13% Ib. grain but no silage. Both 

 lots got the same amount of hay. 



ROOTS. 



Both old and young animals fed roots in winter will be in better condition than 

 those given dry feed. The large amount of water contained in them is of much 

 more value than the same amount of water taken from the trough. Mangels and 

 sugar-mangels are the most widely used by dairymen, because they yield heaviest. 

 As high as 65 tons to the acre have been grown in the Chilliwack District. Sugar- 

 beets are much richer than mangels in sugar, but usually do not yield nearly as well, 

 and are hard to harvest, growing deep in the soil. Field carrots will do better than 



