SUMMER FOOD FOR COWS. 



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The most natural, and of course the healthiest food 

 for milch cows in summer, is the green grass of the 

 pastures ; and when these fail from drought, or over- 

 stocking, the complement of nourishment may be made 

 up with green clover, green oats, barley, millet, or corn- 

 fodder, and cabbage-leaves, or other succulent vegeta- 

 bles ; and if these are wanting, their place may be 

 partly supplied with shorts, Indian-meal, linseed or cot- 

 ton-seed meal. Green grass is more nutritious than 

 hay, which always loses more or less of its nutritive 

 qualities in curing ; the amount of the loss depending 

 chiefly on the mode of curing, and the length of ex- 

 posure to sun and rain. But, apart from this, grass is 

 more easily and completely digested than hay, though 

 the digestion of hay may be greatly aided by cutting 

 and moistening, or steaming ; and by this means it is 

 rendered more readily available, and hence far better 

 adapted to promote a large secretion of milk a fact 

 too often overlooked by many even intelligent farmers. 



That green grass is better adapted than most other 

 kinds of food to promote a large flow of milk, may be 

 be seen from the following table, from which it will 

 appear that greater attention should be given to the 

 proper constituents of food for milch cows. Two 

 cows were taken in the experiment. 



