GENERAL CARE OF CATTLE. 347 



merely to maintain life are great. The waste 

 of the system has to be repaired constantly. 

 This is large enough in warm weather; in the 

 winter, when combustion for the creation of 

 heat is so great, it is much larger. And yet men 

 expect to feed cows little more than enough for 

 bare existence and have them produce large 

 quantities of milk. This is utterly ridiculous 

 as well as impossible. Sometimes the natu- 

 ral tendency of milk production, kept alive 

 by the maternal instinct which the tugging of 

 the calf at the teats creates daily anew, will 

 keep a cow in milk when she is little more than 

 a skeleton, but such production is at the ex- 

 pense of the vital energies and means a shorten- 

 ing of life and reduction of future productive- 

 ness. About two-thirds of a food ration is 

 needed to supply the demands of mere con- 

 tinued existence. Unless there is something 

 fed over and above this two-thirds, no produc- 

 tion of beef or milk can be looked for. The 

 steer that is fed no more will make no gain in 

 weight; the cow that is fed no more will go dry. 

 The question of the difference in care between 

 a dry and milking cow, especially in winter, is 

 dependent on this consideration. A dry cow 

 must be fed only enough to supply the demands 

 that are represented by keeping her in good 

 condition. The milch cow must have enough 

 over and above this to supply the material for 



