I3O PROFITABLE STOCK RAISING 



cows, in order to avoid the danger of choking. 

 Pasture grass, either the blue grass of the East 

 and South or the nutritious wild grasses found in 

 the West, form an almost ideal all-around feed for 

 the dairy. There are, however, only two or three 

 months of the year when these grasses are at their 

 best, and supplementary feeding is required for the 

 largest results during the greater portion of the 

 year. Another disadvantage of pasturing, espe- 

 cially upon high-priced land, is its wastefulness. 

 The necessity for the economical utilization of all 

 the feed raised on a farm under intensive condi- 

 tions has led to the system of feeding known as 

 soiling. This plan requires keeping the cows in a 

 barn, or in relatively small lots, at all times, and 

 cutting green growing crops such as rye, rape, 

 clover or other suitable plants each day and feeding 

 in just such quantities as are required. This does 

 away with wastefulness of pasturing and enables 

 the keeping of a larger number of animals than 

 could otherwise be done. The silo can be used in 

 connection with soiling, to very good advantage, 

 or it can be used in connection with pasturing by 

 providing a supply of the summer silage to use 

 when the grass gets short and dry during the latter 

 part of the summer. One of the most successful 

 dairymen in Illinois cuts from five to seven acres 

 of rye and clover in June and chops it finely in his 

 silage cutter, packs it in the silo for summer use, 

 and finishes feeding it out only just before the corn 

 silage is available in the fall. He states that he 

 finds this the most profitable crop of his entire farm. 



NEEDS OF MILK PRODUCTION 



Whatever feeds are given and whatever is the 

 feeding practice, it should always be borne in mind 



