64 

 PART V. FEEDING FOR MILK. 



GENERAL NOTES. 



AN ABUNDANCE OF FOOD NECESSARY. 



Where the herd is made up of the right kind of cows, the 

 quantity and quality of the feed consumed is, up to a certain point, 

 the measure of milk production. -Underfed cows, as every farmer 

 knows, yield small quantities of milk, usually, if not always, at a 

 high cost per unit for even the small quantity produced. Yet it is 

 safe to say that in Canada seventy-five per cent or three-quarters of 

 N the cows in milk do not receive enough feed to enable them to reach 

 what might be described as the maximum of production at the mini- 

 mum of cost. l The largest quantity of milk and butterfat at the 

 lowest feed cost per pound milk or butterfat produced' should be 

 the aim of every dairyman. 



Many under-fed dairy cattle are also badly-fed dairy cattle 

 inasmuch as the ration provided is frequently unsuited for the end in 

 view milk production. It is not, however, among the under-fed 

 alone that the badly-fed cows are to be found since many farmers, 

 sufficiently large-hearted to feed a generous ration, fail to appreciate 

 or are ignorant of the importance and economy of combining the 

 different feeds in the right proportions to insure the best returns 

 in milk. Siuich a knowledge of feeds as will enable the feeder to 

 prepare the best ration at the lowest cost is not very easily gained 

 but the careful study of the following notes and a little experience 

 will go far toward making even the veriest beginner an effective ar>^ 

 economical, that is to say a skilful, feeder. 



CHANGING FROM STALL TO PASTURE. 



Sudden changes from one feed to another should never be made, 

 as they, in most cases, decrease the flow of milk, even when the new 

 ration is better than the one to which the cow is accustomed. When 

 a change is necessary it should be gradual, extending over a week 

 or ten days. 



The young, immature grasses, especially in early spring, as is 

 well known, contain a large amount of water, a condition commonly 

 called ' washy.' Wheat and rye pastures are of the same nature, and 

 when the cows are about to pass from the dry feed of winter to the 

 succulent feed of summer, great care is needed. At first they ought 



