444 



FARMER'S CYCLOPEDIA OF LIVE STOCK 



In Massachusetts, Lindsey fed dis- 

 tillers' dried grains from alcohol and 

 spirit, Bourbon whiskey and rye whis- 

 key. Distillers' dried grains containing 

 32 per cent of protein were found to 

 have a high digestibility and were very 

 economic feeds. They proved equal or 

 slightly superior to gluten feed and were 

 without bad effect on the health of the 

 cows. The bulky nature of these grains 

 is considered somewhat in their favor. 

 The flavor and keeping quality of the 

 milk was in no way affected when dis- 

 tillers' dried grains constituted one-half 

 of the grain ration. A suitable ration 

 of this material is from 2 to 4 pounds 



more costly than the cottonseed meal. 

 If the milk is sold on the basis of its 

 fat content, the higher cost of the dis- 

 tillers' grains may be in part compen- 

 sated by the increase in the amount of 

 fat. The butter produced from distil- 

 lers' grains did not score quite as high 

 as that from cottonseed meal. 



Kafir corn—Otis fed kafir corn in 

 comparison with corn at the Kansas 

 experiment station and obtained about 

 equal results from both feeds. In point 

 of yield, kafir corn had a slight advan- 

 tage, the average yield per acre being 

 46 bushels as compared with 34.5 bush- 

 els of corn. Some complaints have been 



Fig. 291 — PRIZE-WINNING DEVON COW WOODLAND 



mixed with other grains, such as flour 

 middlings, corn, hominy meal, cotton- 

 seed meal or bran. 



A comparison of these different forms 

 of distillers' dried grains in Vermont 

 indicated that rye grains make less but- 

 ter and milk than alcohol grains. This 

 result was expected from the fact that 

 a chemical analysis shows them to con- 

 tain less protein. 



Armsby substituted 5% pounds of dis- 

 tillers' dried grains for 3 pounds of cot- 

 tonseed meal and 2 1 /2 pounds of corn 

 meal with the result that a slight in- 

 crease in the milk yield was noted and 

 a marked increase in the fat content. 

 The distillers' grains, however, were 



made of poor flavor in butter from 

 kafir corn, but Otis noticed no such 

 effect in his experiments. At one time 

 the herd was fed almost exclusively on 

 kafir corn meal and the butter thus 

 obtained was pronounced of excellenc 

 quality by competent judges. In exceed- 

 ingly dry seasons, some dust may be car- 

 ried by kafir corn and may get into the 

 milk if special care is not exercised. 



Linseed meal — The importance of this 

 feed for milch cows is apparent from its 

 high protein content and its laxative and 

 regulative action upon the bowels. In 

 Colorado, linseed meal produced a higher 

 percentage of milk fat than any other 

 grain compared with it, and in Iowa it 



