FOOD FOR MILCH COWS IN SUMMER 24I 



in northwestern areas has proved a valuable grass for 

 prolonged grazing. 



Among the plants that should not be grazed by 

 cows in milk, unless but for a short period after they 

 have been milked, are rape and rye, because of the ad- 

 verse influence on the quality of the milk. Nor should 

 the sorghums be grazed by cows under some conditions, 

 notwithstanding the abundance of the grazing that they 

 furnish, because of the hazard that is sometimes present. 

 Especially is such hazard present in second growth sor- 

 ghum after periods of drouth, which seem to favor the 

 concentration of a poisonous element in the plants that 

 frequently proves fatal to the animals grazed on it. 



The best pastures for cows in New England are 

 those permanent in character and furnished by moist 

 lands lying in the basins of rivers. The best pastures 

 westward from New York to Dakota, and including the 

 provinces of Ontario and Quebec, are the clovers and 

 Kentucky bluegrass. The common red variety is the 

 best pasture plant among clovers because of its con- 

 tinuity in growth. Those pastures most in favor at 

 present in the Dakotas are Russian brome, with clover 

 coming more or less into favor. The pastures most in 

 favor in the northwestern provinces of Canada are Rus- 

 sian brome and timothy. Those highest in favor in the 

 northern mountain valleys are clover under irrigation, 

 and in inland Washington and Oregon alfalfa and 

 orchard grass grown together. On the far Pacific slope, 

 north from California, the grazing is about the same 

 as in the central states. In the central states, both 

 east and west, the clovers and bluegrass are the favorite 

 pasture plants, with cowpeas as a supplement. In the 

 Gulf states, Bermuda grass is the standard summer pas- 

 ture. In the central and southern states of the western 

 mountains the best pastures are furnished on irrigated 

 lands by alfalfa, clover, and some grasses, as brome, 

 grown with these legumes. 



