272 THE MANAGEMENT AND FEEDING OF CATTLE 



pounds daily in prolonged feeding, the flavor and the 

 color of the butter are liable to be affected adversely. 



Amount of concentrates to feed. — The amount of 

 concentrates to feed to cows in milk will be influenced 

 by the character of the roughage that may be available; 

 by the market value of the same ; by the free milk-giv- 

 ing in the cow, and by such considerations as the re- 

 quirements of uncompleted growth and a pregnant con- 

 dition. That roughage rich in nutrients in approximate 

 balance for producing milk, as good clover hay, will call 

 for less concentrates than fodders lacking in such bal- 

 ance and largely indigestible as straw, is self-evident. 

 It is equally clear that if, in addition to such food as 

 good clover hay, succulence in the form of roots or of 

 corn rich in the grain element, that the proportion of 

 concentrates called for will be still further reduced. The 

 market value of the roughage, however, may be such as 

 to make it more profitable to increase the amount of 

 concentrate fed rather than to feed the roughage. With 

 timothy hay at $16 to $20 a ton, which it frequently 

 sells for in New England, it will usually be more profit- 

 able to feed some concentrate as far as this may safely 

 be done in lieu of the hay. But usually the roughage is 

 much cheaper relatively than the concentrate. A cow 

 giving 30 pounds of milk daily calls for more concen- 

 trates relatively to enable her to do it than a cow that 

 gives but 20 pounds. The former is unable to consume, 

 digest, and assimilate enough coarse fodders to enable 

 her to furnish the elements called for in such high per- 

 formance. The relative increase in the concentrates 

 called for would seem to be greater than the relative 

 increase in production, at least after a high standard of 

 production has been reached. Uncompleted growth in 

 a cow in milk and a pregnant condition make additional 

 demand on food nutrients, and, therefore, frequently an 

 additional demand on the concentrates fed. 



Owing to the fact that the roughage available is 



