FEEDING DAIRY CATTLE 125 



ture, legume hay, and roots or silage are adapted for use 

 as roughage. As the time for freshening approaches, the 

 cow should by all means have a laxative ration if she has 

 not been receiving it before ; if on pasture, no special atten- 

 tion :s called for in this respect. The cow should have ex- 

 ercise , and nothing is better than freedom in a smooth pas- 

 ture or freedom in a barnyard in winter. 



FEEDING THE Cow IN MILK 



116. Water for Cows. Large amounts of water are 

 necessary for producing the milk itself and for the digestion 

 and Assimilation of the larger quantities of feed required to 

 mak( it. The author found by experiments that a cow 

 producing 27 pounds of milk per day drank 77 pounds of 

 water. The same cow when dry drank only 15 pounds per 

 day. Another cow producing over 100 pounds of milk per 

 day used an average of 250 pounds of water. These figures 

 show that the water requirement is in proportion to the 

 milk produced and the food consumed. They also show that 

 the question of water supply is much more important for 

 the cow in milk than for the dry cow. Dry cows need not 

 be watered more than once daily in winter time and do not 

 seem to want it oftener. During the summer the demand 

 for water is greater on account of the greater evaporation 

 from the skin. Cows on heavy feed, producing large quan- 

 tities of milk, should always have access to water at least 

 twice daily. For the best results, water of good quality should 

 be supplied close at hand, since if the animals are required to 

 walk long distances in cold weather, they may not drink a 

 sufficient amount and the milk flow may be reduced for this 

 reason. Water contaminated by drainage from barnyards 

 or with sewage should be avoided for sanitary reasons, as 



