432 Feeds and Feeding. 



696. Shelter. — The steer, gorged with feed and every day adding 

 to the heat-holding fat layer just beneath the skin, prefers the yard 

 or open shed to the stable. (495) The dairy cow stands in strong 

 contrast, her system being relaxed thru the annual drain of mater- 

 nity and the daily loss of milk, the combination severely taxing her 

 digestive and assimilative powers and drawing heavily on her vital- 

 ity. In winter the cow should be comfortably housed in a well- 

 lighted, well-ventilated stable, the temperature of which should 

 range from 40° to 50° F. 



697. Exercise. — Confinement is advisable with the fattening steer 

 soon to be slaughtered, since it prevents waste of tissues and con- 

 serves feed. With the dairy cow a high standard of bodily health 

 and vigor can only be maintained thru proper stable conditions, 

 supplemented by a reasonable amount of outdoor air and exercise 

 even during winter. "Whenever possible, the cow should be out of 

 doors 2 or 3 hours each day, enjoying the sunshine and exercising 

 muscles which cannot be called into action while she is in stanchions. 

 At the Cornell Station^ Roberts devised a system whereby the cows 

 stood in stanchions Avhile feeding and being milked. Afterward 

 they were turned into a large covered enclosure where they were 

 free to stand or lie at will. In other words, they were milked and 

 fed in one room and spent most of their time unconfined in another. 

 The accumulation from the horse stable was spread on the floor of 

 the covered shed, and this in turn was overlaid with straw and 

 sprinkled with land plaster to suppress odors. A modified plan, and 

 a most excellent one, is to have a small sanitary room in which are 

 admitted 2 or more cows at a time for milking and eating their con- 

 centrates. At other times they are confined in a covered enclosure 

 provided with a roomy rack for holding the roughage they need. The 

 special milking room can be kept scrupulously clean and properly 

 aired, making possible the cleanest of milk. 



698. Regularity and kindness. — To skilful feeding and wholesome 

 quarters the successful dairyman adds regularity and kindness. 

 On this point Babcock of the Wisconsin Station- writes: "I would 

 recommend, therefore, in order to obtain the best results from any 

 cow, that first of all she be treated kindly, all sources of excitement 

 being avoided so far as possible. She should also be fed and milked 

 at regular intervals by the same person, and all conditions should 

 be maintained as nearly uniform as possible at all times. It is my 

 opinion that kind treatment and pleasant surroundings will have a 



'Bui. 13; The Fertility of the Land, p. 20. -Rpt. lS89o 



