FOOD FOR MILCH COWS IN WINTER 263 



to the kinds of succulence that will best serve the ends 

 sought, and as to the quantities that should be fed. 

 Whatever may be the explanation, it is a fact that an 

 equal amount of nutrients fed in the dry form will not 

 result in producing milk yields so large as when a part 

 of the food is fed as succulence. This explains why the milk 

 yields from cows put out on good pasture naturally in- 

 crease, whereas those from cows changed from succulent 

 grasses to dry feed will almost certainly grow less. The 

 necessity, therefore, on the part of those who keep cows, 

 to make provision for a supply of succulent food all the 

 year, is ever present. 



Foods that furnish succulence, of course, differ much 

 in suitability and consequently in value for such feeding. 

 They should be helpful to the digestion and should pro- 

 duce no objectionable flavor in the milk. Those are best 

 suited to the purpose which exert a markedly beneficial 

 influence on the digestion. This alone, however, is not 

 a sufficient ground of preference, as the item of cost in 

 providing it may be relatively too much. In the favor- 

 able influence exerted on digestion, field roots are supe- 

 rior to corn ensilage, and yet the latter will doubtless be 

 more used in all time in the United States in furnishing 

 succulence for cows in milk, since it is more cheaply 

 furnished. The objectionable flavors which rutabagas, 

 turnips, and rape produce when fed, without careful dis- 

 crimination, are much against their use in milk produc- 

 tion. The degree of maturity at which succulent food 

 shall be harvested is even more important than in the 

 case of dry fodders. This is abundantly shown in the 

 greatly superior value in corn made into ensilage that 

 approaching maturity brings with it. 



The plants that may be made to furnish succulence 

 for the winter feeding of dairy cows are happily numer- 

 ous. They include in corn all important varieties, sor- 

 ghum of various kinds, all the legumes grown when 

 cured in the green form, and field roots. In some in- 



