Chapter II. 



influence of feeding upon production of mllk — importance of case in 

 Selection of Food — Value of Air and Exercise— Best Kinds of Food 

 — Artificial Feeding — Regulation of FooDi 



N 



O branch of dairy farming is more important than the feeding 

 and treatment of the cows, and yet none is more generally 

 neglected. The direct influence of what the cow eats and 



drinks upon the milk she 

 produces cannot be too 

 strongly impressed upon 



the attention of the farm- 

 er. And of equal impor- 

 tance are the conditions 

 under, which food and 

 drink are taken. If the 

 cows be chased by dogs, 

 or overdriven or wor- 

 ried by boys, on their 

 way to pasture, their milk 

 will surely show the ef- 

 fects in a deterioration 

 of quality. If their shel- 

 ter in winter be insuffi- 

 cient, and the food not 

 sufficiently nutritive, the 

 penalty will invariably 

 be paid in a smaller 

 milk yield. These, retributions are inevitable. One of the greatest 

 mistakes farmers make is in supposing that they can with impunity 

 keep their cows on " short commons " during the winter, and that 

 they will pick up in the spring and milk as well as ever. A cow 

 reduced to meagerness by semi-starvation must first of all supply the 

 wants of her system and get back into decent , condition, before she 

 can possibly give milk in either richness or abundance. While 

 some recover from a winter's starving, many never do. 



It is estimated by competent authority that a dairy cow which 

 (652) 



Fig. 805.— A Short-horn Specimen. 



