THE CARE OF THE MILKING HERD 95 



mentally sound, but we make a great mistake when 

 we try to convert it into a rigid mathematical for- 

 mula. Successful feeding of the animal is not only 

 a question of correct relative proportions of pro- 

 tein, carbohydrates and fat, but also of economy 

 measured in cost in cents each day. It is more a 

 question of palatability than of the absolute best 

 theoretical ration. Animals at different seasons 

 and localities have had to adapt themselves to very 

 wide variations in diet, and fortunately their re- 

 quirements are rather elastic. Study of tables of 

 composition and digestibility are suggestive, but 

 we must not forget the individuality of the animal. 

 The more we consider this topic of feeding, the 

 more clearly we comp to understand that the best 

 rations are not compounded in the laboratory but 

 in the stable. A cow must eat to the very limit 

 of her digestive powers if she is to do her best 

 work. She must gorge herself "as full as a tick," 

 and she will not do this unless her food fulfills her 

 ideas of toothsomeness. Eations may be skillfully 

 compounded, if you will, exactly to conform to the 

 Wolff-Lehmann or any other standard, but they 

 must also be compounded with experience and com- 

 mon sense and a close and sympathetic study of 

 the likes and dislikes of the cow. 



There are two fairly distinct types of dairying, 

 so far .as management is .concerned — "summer" 

 and "winter." The dairying of our fathers was 

 almost wholly of the former type. It was planned 



