Feeding Dairy Cattle 



For those who desire to look carefully into this question 

 the following references are given : 



The mineral nutrition of dairy cattle is covered 1:>}' the 

 ( )hio Experiment Station bulletins Nos. 395-308-330-347, 

 and in the monthh' bulletin of the Ohio Experiment Station 

 for July, 1920. Requests for these bulletins should be 

 addressed to the Ohio Experiment Station, Wooster, <3hio. 

 Dr. Meigs' paper on the mineral nutrition of dairy cows is in 

 bulletin No. 945 of U. S. Department of Agriculture. 

 MINERALS NEEDED 



The result of the study of investigators has sh(j\\-n us 

 that aside from a liberal supply of common salt the necessity 

 for mineral seems to be limited to calcium and phosphorus. 

 Ordinary good rations seem to supply all other mineral 

 elements with the exception of these two. \ farmer ordi- 

 narily thinks of the question of calcium as lime. In this 

 article we will stick to the terms of calcium and phosphorus. 

 Anyone who thinks in terms of lime will know that when we 

 speak of calcium, we mean lime. 



A NEED FOR MINERAL MATTER 



The need for mineral matter is perhaps best summarized 

 by Dr. Forbes under the following three heads: 



1. Rations abnormally poor in minerals. This mav be 

 due to an excessive proportion of grain in the ration : to 

 forage grown upon impoverished or infertile soil; to the use 

 of manufactory by-products which are poor in mineral 

 nutrients; or to the substitution of foods poor in minerals 

 for a natural food which is rich in the same, as in the use of 

 some calf meals in place of the normal ration of milk. 



2. The rapid growth of livestock which have been selected 

 for early maturity. 



3. The high mineral content of the product sought eo?s 



and milk, for instance , especially in unusually efficient 

 production. 



Cows need calcium to strengthen the bones and to grow 

 the new bones in the young and to supply the large amount 

 of calcium which is found in the milk. Careful experiments 

 have shown that the dairy cow producing a good su])plv of 

 milk will give out from her body into the milk, urine and 

 feces, more calcium per day than she takes in in her food. 

 There is only one place from which this extra calcium can 

 come and that is her skeleton. Therefore, it is necessary 

 for us to feed an abundance of calcium in rations throughout 

 the year, in order that she may have a sufficient supply of 

 calcium at all times in the feed to supply the amount put into 



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