454 



FARMER'S CYCLOPEDIA OF LIVE STOCK 



butter was obtained from cowpea pas- 

 ture, and in Delaware, cowpea pasture 

 was found to be almost equal to prime 

 June pasture. A ration of 25 pounds 

 cowpea silage and 6 pounds of hay- 

 proved excellent for winter feeding. 

 This silage was slightly superior to 

 wheat bran for milk production and the 

 quality of the butter was equal to that 

 obtained from bran. 



In Tennessee, Soule and Barnes ob- 

 tained results which show the great im- 

 portance of cowpeas in milk production. 

 Cowpeas were compared in these experi- 

 ments with cottonseed meal without 

 intending to disparage the use of cot- 

 tonseed meal, but to show the relative 

 economy in feeding these two forms of 

 nitrogenous materials. Eations contain- 

 ing both cowpea hay and cottonseed 

 meal produced the cheapest milk. The 

 cowpea hay made a remarkably fine 

 showing, proving to be an excellent sub- 

 stitute for either wheat bran or cot- 

 tonseed meal. It was not only effective, 

 but it was found to be very palatable 

 and greedily eaten by all of the cows. 

 With the use of cowpea hay and cotton- 

 seed meal it was found possible to pro- 

 duce milk at 5.2 cents a gallon, and 

 butter at 10 cents a pound. Since the 

 usual retail price of milk in the south- 

 ern states is from 25 to 30 cents a gal- 

 lon and butter 25 to 30 cents a pound, 

 it is obvious that the southern dairyman 

 can make a good profit if he uses feeds 

 in a rational manner. 



Duggar, in Alabama, estimating cow- 

 pea hay at $10 a ton, found that, ex- 

 cluding the coarse portion which was not 

 eaten, the cowpea hay had a feeding 

 value about equal to wheat bran. As 

 ordinarily harvested, cowpea hay showed 

 a feeding value 86 per cent that of 

 wheat bran and the monthly profit a 

 cow was $4.35 on a cowpea ration, the 

 hay being fed at the rate of 6^2 pounds 

 a day in connection with cottonseed 

 meal. Running the cowpea hay through 

 a feed cutter did not diminish the waste. 



Flat pea — (Lathyrus sylvestris.) This 

 plant was not relished by cows in the 

 test made in Michigan, either in the 

 form of a soiling crop or as silage. The 

 cows lost weight on it and the milk flow 

 decreased. Similarly in Germany, flat 

 pea has been found inferior to clover 

 hay for milk production. 



Hay — Hay in some form enters into 

 nearly all rations for dairy cows, except 

 when they are kept on pasture or fed 



soiling crops. In the northern and east- 

 ern states, hay is commonly made of 

 timothy and clover. In Maine, when 

 the change was made from a ration of 

 13 pounds of hay and 25 pounds of sil- 

 age, with a suitable amount of grain, to 

 8 pounds of hay without alteration in 

 the rest of the ration, a smaller milk 

 yield was obtained, the cows lost weight 

 and showed an unthrifty condition. A 

 change from hay to silage, however, 

 caused an increased production of milk 

 in tests made in New Hampshire and 

 Maine. 



In Massachusetts, and elsewhere along 

 the Atlantic coast, salt marsh hay has 

 been tested for cows and found to be 

 less effective than ordinary hay. If this 

 material is fed after milking, no taint 

 is observed in the milk; the percent- 

 age of fat in the milk, however, is less 

 than on common hay. Marsh hay is 

 so much cheaper than ordinary hay that 

 an economical ration may be made of 

 12 pounds of marsh hay and one bushel 

 of corn silage. Marsh grass hay has 

 also been fed to cows quite extensively 

 in various parts of Europe. In Sweden, 

 when fed in rations not to exceed 20 

 pounds a day, it proved about equal 

 to beets. 



Kafir corn — Kafir corn, either as fod- 

 der or silage, is much relished by cows, 

 and has been found to be nearly equal to 

 corn. For further notes on its feeding 

 value, see under Beef cattle. 



Lespedeza — This material is used to 

 a considerable extent in the southern 

 states. In Mississippi, leapedeza hay 

 proved superior to either timothy or 

 Bermuda grass hay. 



Millet — I n Michigan, millet silage 

 was found to be much relished by cows, 

 and had a favorable influence on the 

 milk flow. In North Carolina, how- 

 ever, millet hay added to a ration con- 

 taining corn silage and grain had no 

 observable effect on the yield of milk. 

 Hungarian millet silage was greedily 

 eaten by cows in a test in Vermont and 

 proved equal to hay, but somewhat in- 

 ferior to corn silage. 



Oats and peas — These crops are us- 

 ually combined for cows, and fed green 

 or as silage. According to Canadian ex- 

 perience, oats and peas produce a larger 

 yield to the acre than oats and vetch, 

 but the two combinations were about 

 equal as milk producers. Hills, in Ver- 

 mont, found that sometimes oat and pea 



