FEEDING FOR MILK PRODUCTION 269 



The Balanced Ration. A ration is said to be balanced 

 when the two classes of nutrients are present in the right 

 proportions. The cow produces milk abundantly when on 

 fresh pasture grasses. One reason for this is that growing 

 grasses constitute a balanced ration. The winter ration is 

 liable to have the nutrients out of proportion. In the corn 

 belt the lack of protein is the most common deficiency in the 

 ration, brought about by the large use made of corn and corn 

 fodder. The wide use of timothy hay is also responsible for 

 many rations lacking in protein. A cow secreting milk 

 must use a certain amount of protein to form the curd or 

 nitrogenous part of the milk. No other material can take the 

 place of protein for this purpose. A careful study of the 

 composition of feeds and the method of computing rations 

 aids the feeder to prepare the ration to the best advantage. 



Milk Secretion due to Stimulation. The cow is too often 

 fed with the idea in mind that the production of milk is 

 directly dependent upon the food consumed and that the 

 more feed that can be gotten into her, the more milk there 

 will be produced. According to this view, the main question 

 is one of providing the proper amounts of suitable feeds. 

 The correct way to look upon the cow is from an entirely 

 different point of view. According to the view of the author, 

 as already [expressed, the production of milk is dependent 

 upon some stimulating principle that is formed in the body 

 and which acts upon the udder gland. A good dairy cow 

 is one that has the stimulation to produce large quantities 

 of milk. Any animal after violent exercise, for example, the 

 dog after a hard day's hunting, is exceedingly hungry, and con- 

 sumes a correspondingly large amount of food. The dairy 

 cow is a parallel case. A high-class dairy cow produces a 



