254 THE MANAGEMENT AND FEEDING OF CATTLE 



known principle that the digestive powers cannot at 

 once accommodate themselves to changed conditions. It 

 is fortunate that it is so. More commonly the change 

 begins by housing the cows at night, while they still 

 have access to the pastures in the day. For a time it 

 may not be necessary to house them in winter quarters, 

 but simply to provide them with a well-littered shed to 

 lie in overnight, giving them access at the same time 

 to a rack filled with some kind of suitable fodder. The 

 chief benefit of such a plan over keeping them in their 

 proper winter quarters is in the saving of labor that 

 results, but if meal is fed at such a time it will be neces- 

 sary to confine them to stalls long enough to allow them 

 to consume it 



Injury from cold and storms at such a season is 

 less easily overcome than if it occurred when changing 

 from winter quarters to the pastures, for reasons that 

 will be manifest. The milk-giving function in cows is 

 easily influenced adversely by cold, hence exposure to 

 cold at night beyond a certain degree will cause shrink- 

 age in the milk several weeks earlier than such a result 

 will follow from grazing during the day only, because 

 of the marked difference in the mean temperature be- 

 tween the days and the nights at that season. The 

 degree of cold that will produce shrinkage can be at 

 once detected by the fact of the shrinkage, if in no other 

 way. But it is better to anticipate any shrinkage by 

 providing timely shelter at night. Cows in milk should 

 not be exposed to a night temperature which lowers to 

 the freezing point. They should be protected from cold 

 earlier at night than cattle being fattened, since the latter 

 are being fed on more heat-producing foods. It is even 

 more important that the cows shall be protected from 

 cold autumn rains. Each instance of such exposure may 

 cause shrinkage in milk-giving for several days subse- 

 quently. 



When on pasture in the autumn, soiling foods may 



