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served either as silage or cured in the shod?, practically all of the material is 

 available as feed for the cow if rightly handled. Next to the direct care of 

 the herd the greatest study of the dairyman should be in learning to 

 economically grow, harvest and administer the corn plant. 



The cow may receive from ten to fifteen pounds of fodder corn daily, 

 with advantage. If this has been grown with a "nubbin " or small ear on 

 most of the stalks, a fair allowance of the roughage will furnish as much 

 grain as should be fed. 



Corn Stover. Where corn is grown for the grain, the straw or stover 

 which remains after husking the ears, though of less value than fodder corn, 

 may still serve an important place in the feed stable. Cows are fond of the 

 finer parts of the corn stalk, and if the stover is run through a "feed-cutter 

 and not too liberally supplied, but a small part of the stalks w^ill be wasted. 

 Where the stalks are coarse and inert, as they are in the southern part of 

 the Corn Belt and farther South, this statement does not apply, for there 

 corn stalks are not much relished by cows, though in silage form they are 

 readily eaten. 



Roots. In Europe dairymen make large use of roots. In this country, 

 where Indian corn flourishes, silage from corji will be found more economical, 

 considering cost of production, and is equally satisfactory with the root crop 

 for feeding cows. Where the dairyman does not have silage it will be well 

 to feed some roots. Mangels are the best for cows and should be pulped or 

 sliced. Canadian dairymen often pulp the roots and mix this with chaffed 

 hay, allowing the mass to stand a day before feeding. From twenty to forty 

 pounds of mangels is a day's allowance. Sugar beets also serve for feeding 

 cows. Being much richer than mangels, a smaller quantity should be fed. 



Silage. Silage, principally from the corn plant, is now a factor of first 

 importance on thousands of American dairy farms. That silage is well liked 

 by the cow, that she thrives on it and yields milk liberally, that properly fed 

 it does not impair her health — all these points have been settled in favour of 

 the silo and its product. Since corn silage is rich in carbohydrates and low 

 in protein, clover hay is the common complementary roughage. 



The character of sliage is such that, even though cows seemingly thrive 

 on it when fed alone, some dry roughage should be supplied with it. In 

 northern latitudes the cow should not be wholly maintained in winter on 

 silage. Good corn silage always contains a liberal supply of ears, and the 

 amount to be fed depends directly upon the proportion of ears to forage. 

 From thirty to fifty pounds is the usual daily allowance for a cow. 



Rations for Dairy Cows. The young dairyman scans reports to ascertain 

 what others are feeding their cows; the dairyman with years of experience 

 is not averse to knowing of the practices of others, though he may be slow 

 in changing to that which is new. 



In 1894, Woll, of the Wisconsin Station, by correspondence, secured data 

 concerning the rations fed by more than a hundred dairymen scattered over 

 the United States. As most of them were noted in their specialty, we can 

 place no better guide before the reader than a group of rations from this 

 source : — 



