FEED AND CARE OF DAIRY COWS 193 



equal to that of corn silage, or approximately, 2 tons of wet beet 

 pulp equal i ton of corn silage. Wet beet pulp seems to give 

 results far above what its chemical composition shows. In other 

 words it has a beneficial physiological effect for milk production. 

 The Colorado Experiment Station recommends 50 pounds as a 

 maximum' in daily rations. In their investigations the following 

 ration was used: 



24 pounds wet beet pulp 

 20 pounds alfalfa 



4 pounds corn chops 



4 pounds wheat chops. 



Dried beet pulp seems to be more suitable for fattening animals 

 than for dairy cows. 



Corn Fodder and Stalks. — Corn stover, the whole corn plant, 

 corn leaves, etc., furnish desirable feed that may be used to 

 make up part of the ration for milch cows. On account of the 

 wide distribution of the corn plant, this roughage is found in 

 dairy rations of many sections. These feeds are comparatively 

 high in carbohydrates so that leguminous hays are excellent to 

 complete the roughage portion of rations containing any of 

 them. 



Grass Hays. — Timothy, Kentucky blue grass, meadow fescue, 

 red top, Hungarian grass and other millets, orchard grass, 

 prairie grasses, tall oat grass, Bermuda, crab, Canadian blue 

 grass, Italian rye grass, rescue grass, teosinte, velvet grass, 

 Russian broom, Western rye grass, Texas blue grass, oat, etc., 

 are fed as roughage to dairy cattle. These furnish relatively 

 large proportions of carbohydrates and when fed should be 

 accompanied with grains rich in protein to form a balanced 

 ration. 



Timothy hay commands such a high market price that it is 

 only occasionally that the feeder can economically use it. It is 

 usually more profitable to sell this hay as the market price is 

 generally far above its feeding value for dairy cows. Oats and 

 vetch, oats and peas, wheat and vetch, oats, peas and vetch and 

 similar combinations are grown and furnish good roughage for 

 cows in milk. 



