THE FEEDING AND MANAGEMENT OF CATTLE. 47") 



Clover hn\jj when well cured and bright, is especially valuable for 

 dairy cows, siuce it furuishesa large ainoimt of protein. 



Timothy hay is at best a pool* food for dairy cows; it should be left 

 for horse feeding. 



Wti'-tit hay, <>at hay, or barley hay, if cut early, are all excellent dairy 

 foods, and their use should become much more common than it is. 



Millet hay is satisfactory if cut very early, before the seeds form. 



The reader is referred to Table I for the proportions of nutrients in 

 the above and many other feeds used in the dairy. 



SILAGE IN THE DAIRY. 



I have already spoken favorably in regard to the use of silage in steer 

 feeding; in the dairy barn it has a still more important place. Milk is 

 a watery product, and the cow should be fed upon juicy, succulent 

 foods. We all know the value of good pastures, but their season is 

 short in this country, and in the Northern States our cows must sub- 

 sist on dry feed between six and seven months each year unless we can 

 give them a substitute in the shape of roots or silage. Many dairymen 

 have learned the value of roots, but there are thousands who for one 

 ic. t-nii or another will not grow them, and to such I strongly urge the 

 use of silage for supplying a moist food most palatable to dairy cows. 

 Silo construction has now been greatly simplified, and we have learned 

 at what stage to cut the corn and how to secure it in the silo at very low 

 cost. An acre of good land will furnish from 15 to 18 tons of green 

 corn stalks, many of which will carry small ears or nubbins. This ma- 

 terial can be placed in the silo at small cost while full of juice, and kept 

 thfire with little waste. From 20 to 40 and even CO pounds of com 

 silage can be fed to each cow daily during the winter with profit. 

 There is a prejudice among many dairymen that silage being somewhat 

 sour will injure the teeth or the digestive apparatus of dairy cows, but 

 the pra.-: ical experience of thousands who use the silo show such charges 

 to !>e without foundation. In the Indian corn crop we have the best and 

 jcst means of producing a large amount of wholesome cattle food; 

 with tin .xil< \\e now have the means of keeping this crop inasucculent 

 condition for v. inter feeding so that it proves an admirable and cheap 

 substitute for roots. 



There ;u-e t wo classes of dairy farmers. Those who desire to raise 



uj.'iii i heir farms about all that is fed to their stock constitute the first 



I, while those in the second are usually located on high-priced land. 



near -::u- city or railroad station, and can not grow all of the fowl 



required by their COWH, and make heavy purchases of grain feed each 



The first class of dairymen here referred to will doubtless find 



it more profitable to grow such varieties of corn only, for ullage, as 



will fully ma tine in their locality, and plant the corn so thinly that 



many ears will form on the stalks. These ears will make the silage 



rich, and a fine ration is provided by giving a few pounds of 



