33 



labour, increases, and the same is true with the cow. A portion of the 

 provender must, therefore, take the form of grain or concentrates. More- 

 over, if slae is yielding a large amount of milk, i. e., working hard, it is best 

 to aid her by reducing the grain to fineness by grinding. The dry cow is 

 doing little work and can subsist on less feed, and this may be coarser in 

 iClbaracter. 



,,#' The Relation of Concentrates to Roughage. The relation of concentrates 

 to roughage should always be borne in mind. The rule should be to feed 

 nearly as much roughage as the cow will consume without overtaxing her; 

 then supply sufficient concentrates to bring the digestible matter up to the 

 required standard. About four-tenths of the digestible nutrients should be 

 given in the form of concentrates, and six-tenths in the roughage. It will 

 not do to feed all grain in expectation of better returns. A satisfactory 

 ration must possess a certain bulk or volume, in order to properly distend the 

 abdomen. Without this the processes of digestion cannot proceed normally. 

 This should never be forgotten, even when forcing cows in dairy contests. 



Oats. It is* not difficult to believe that oats, the most valuable for the 

 horse, are also a prime feed for the dairy cow. The husk of the oat, though 

 carrying little nutrient, renders this grain a feed of light character in the 

 stomach and easy of digestion. With the data given us by Woll, the dairy 

 farmer is in position to easily determine whether he can afford to feed the 

 oats he may grow, or exchange them for bran or other common feeds. 



The bye-products of oatmeal factories are valuable just in the proportion 

 in which the kernels o& the oat grain appear in them. Often there are suffi- 

 cient fragments of kernels in these articles to warrant the payment of a fair 

 price for them ; but when the hulls only are offered the dairyman would 

 better let them alone, for they are no better than the roughage in his mows 

 and stacks. 



Wheat Bran and Middlings. Next to corn, wheat bran is the great cow- 

 feed of this country. Rich in ash and protein, carrying a fair amount of 

 starchy matter, its light, chaffy character renders it the natural complement 

 of heavy corn meal. Though its nutritive constituents approximate those of 

 cotton seed meal, it mixes well with that feed, causing it to lie more lightly 

 in the stomach. The large amount of mineral matter in bran is another 

 factor of much importance in milk production. In milk there is much 

 mineral matter, placed there for the framework of the calf; and bran 

 supplies this more abundantly than most feeding stuffs. 



Middlings, like bran, are extensively fed to dairy cows. Being themselves 

 heavy in character, they do not mix well with heavy feeds like cotton seed 

 meal and corn meal. Dairymen will find middlings much relished by cows 

 and yielding satisfactory results. Bran and middlings are conceded by all 

 who have fed them to favourably affect the flow of milk. Cows may be fed 

 as much as six to eight pounds of bran daily, and from four to six pounds of 

 middlings. 



Rye. This grain is fed in small quantities to milch cows in Denmark. It 

 is said to have a somewhat deleterious influence on the quality of butter. 

 The same statement applies to rye bran. Not over three pounds of rye bran 

 or ground rye should be fed in one day to milch cows. 



