244 



THE MANAGEMENT AND FEEDING OF CATTLE 



tion in the constituents of the grains may be necessary 

 will depend on the character of the pasture. Should the 

 pasture be composed wholly or mainly of the grasses 

 proper, a protein concentrate, as wheat bran or cotton- 

 seed meal, with a small amount of carbonaceous con- 

 centrate, as corn, should be fed, but should the pasture 

 be mainly or wholly clover, then the portion of these 

 should be reversed. 



Feeding grain when on pasture. — Whether cows 

 should or should not be fed meal when grazing on suc- 

 culent and abundant pasture is yet an undetermined 

 question. The best dairymen differ in their practice in 

 this respect. More commonly, however, no grain is fed 

 while the grazing conditions are as stated above. This 

 fact would seem to indicate that it is not so fed from 

 the cherished belief that it does not pay to feed it. It 

 is possible, however, that where this belief is held it has 

 only considered the direct returns from the grain in 

 milk, without having sufficiently considered other effects 

 to be mentioned below. 



The considerations that arise in the effort to deter- 

 mine this question are of so elusive a nature that it is 

 scarcely possible to arrive at conclusions that may be 

 regarded as final when sitting in judgment on them. If 

 it were only a question of increased milk production in 

 relation onh' to the cost of the meal fed, the problem 

 would be easy, but in addition are the influences exerted 

 by the previous feeding of the cow and by the residual 

 effects from feeding grain on future production. The 

 saving effected in the pasture and the added fertility 

 must also be considered. That a cow turned onto pas- 

 ture in a lean condition of flesh would profit more from 

 grain fed on abundant pasture than one in a good con- 

 dition of flesh, would seem reasonable, even in the 

 absence of determining proof. That the grain fed does 

 tend to increase future production has been determined 

 with at least reasonable certainty. That some saving 



