148 Animal Husbandry 
pounds of milk in a single day, we can see the urgent need of a 
large supply of water. It has been fairly well proved that cattle 
provided with water constantly give a slightly larger- yield than 
those watered twice daily, though the difference is not marked. 
This observation has led to the placing of small troughs or vessels 
in the stable immediately in front of the animals. 
There are two factors that must not be lost sight of in watering 
the milking cow: regularity and temperature of water in winter. 
Whatever method of watering is employed, the animal should be 
watered regularly and uniformly. When we recall the large amount 
of water necessary to meet the needs of the high-producing cow, 
it becomes apparent that she should not be compelled to drink ice- 
cold water. It requires much food to heat this water to the body 
temperature, and the animal-will not drink as much as it needs. 
To take the chill off drinking water in winter is now an accepted 
practice with progressive dairymen. 
FEEDING THE MILKING COW 
a 
Feeding dairy cattle naturally divides itself into two parts: 
the summer period when the cows are at pasture, and the winter 
period when they are stabled and fed their entire ration. : 
245. Summer feeding of dairy cattle. — Pasture is one of the 
essentials of successful dairy farming. The favorable influence of - 
early spring pasture on the secretion of milk is well known. The 
flow is materially increased, as is the total yield of fat, though 
the percentage of fat is perhaps not materially altered. 
As a rule, in the early part of the pasture season, the cows will 
obtain sufficient food from the pastures alone, but later in the 
season it will often be necessary to supplement the pasture. This 
may be done by soiling, — cutting the forage and feeding it to the 
cattle green, — with silage, or with grain. 
Experiments seem to indicate that the feeding of grain to cows 
on pasture is profitable, especially when there is scarcity of pas- 
