154 THE BUSINESS OF DAIRYING 



and 6 pounds of corn meal. The protein content 

 of the ration was 3.64 pounds and the esti- 

 mated nutritive ration was i : 5. The feed ration 

 consisted of 6 pounds of corn stalks, 36 pounds of 

 corn silage, 4 pounds of wheat bran, 4 pounds of 

 dried brewers' grains, and 2 pounds of cottonseed 

 meal. The protein content was 3.45 pounds and the 

 estimated nutritive ratio was i : 6. The average 

 daily yield of the milk per cow was 27.2 pounds test- 

 ing 3.2 per cent, of fat on the home-grown ration, 

 and 25.7 pounds testing 3.8 per cent, of fat on the 

 purchased ration. The home-grown ration pro- 

 duced, therefore, 5.81 per cent, more milk than the 

 purchased ration. The butter production was prac- 

 tically the same on both rations. On the home- 

 grown ration the food cost of 100 pounds of milk 

 was 56.5 cents and of one pound of butter was 13.5 

 cents, and on the purchased ration 65 and 14.6 cents, 

 respectively, showing a considerable saving when 

 the home-grown feeding stuffs were used. 



Another experiment showed that when protein 

 was supplied in the form of cottonseed meal, rather 

 than wheat bran and dried brewers' grains, the sav- 

 ing in cost of production was 11.9 cents per 100 

 pounds of milk and 3.3 cents per pound of butter. 



Advantages of home-grown coarse foods. — It 

 should be noted that the coarse foods mentioned in 

 the above experiments included hay made from al- 

 falfa, crimson clover, and cowpeas, also silage from 

 soy beans and cowpeas were produced on the farm 

 and charged in the rations at market prices. There 

 was, therefore, considerable gain in feeding the 



Digitized by Microsoft® 



