38 THE BUSINESS OF DAIRYING 



CHAPTER II 



CUTTING, HANDLING, AND FEEDING 

 FORAGE CROPS 



With the exception of corn, forage crops can be 

 cut to advantage with the mowing machine. On 

 large dairy farms, however, a reaper will do the 

 work. Corn may be cut for a small herd by hand, 

 and for large herds with the ordinary corn harvester. 

 In my experience with a herd of fifty animals, the 

 plan followed was to cut about one and one-half tons 

 of forage each morning to supply the herd for the 

 day. This was cut with the mowing machine, re- 

 quiring from 20 minutes to a half hour, raked 

 with a heavy horse-rake, loaded on a low wagon, and 

 fed to the cows in a two-acre field where they were 

 turned every morning for exercise. Some may ob- 

 ject to this method, preferring to feed all the forage 

 in the stable, which was my practice for the evening 

 feeding. However, with a field kept clean and well 

 drained and with plenty of room, the plan worked 

 well. The cows were driven into the stable early in 

 the afternoon and given a light feeding of hay. The 

 barn was darkened to lessen the annoyance of flies, 

 and at this time of day the stable was also much 

 cooler than the field. After being milked, the cows 

 were fed forage in the stalls and turned out again. 



With a stable arranged so that a team can be 

 driven through in front of the cows, I should prefer 

 to feed both morning and evening in the stable. 



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