6 THE FEEDING OF ANIMALS 



food for his family but also for his cattle. He \hen began 

 to store fodder in stacks, and later in barns, to meet the 

 demands of the inclement portions of the year. 



For centuries, however, grazing was the chief depen- 

 dence for securing the production of meat and milk because 

 the foods supplied diu-ing the cold season were not in 

 such abimdance or so nutritious as to sustain continu- 

 ous growth or milk secretion. Even within the remem- 

 brance of men now living, live-stock was not expected 

 to produce an increase during the winter months but was 

 simply maintained from autumn until spring in order 

 that profits might be realized from summer pasturage. 

 Formerly the demands of the market were much simpler 

 than they are now. Butter and cheese were produced 

 almost wholly from summer dairying, and no such variety 

 of fresh meats was offered to consumers during the entire 

 year as is now the case. But great changes have occurred 

 during the last fifty years, more especially during the past 

 twenty-five. First of all, we have a modern type of animal, 

 greatly unlike that of previous times. The ideal dairy 

 cow of today is a high-pressure milk-machine extremely 

 sensitive to her environment and demanding a degree of 

 care in management and feeding, if she is to do her safe 

 maximum work, which was not necessary with coarser 

 and less delicate organisms. Every successful dairyman 

 must now provide proper winter quarters for his herd 

 and throughout the entire year must supply rations 

 that will support continuous, generous production. He 

 must do this, too, by the use of a greater variety of 

 foods than was formerly available. Not only has the 

 number of useful forage crops greatly increased, but the 

 average farmer no longer produces all the food which his 

 animals consume. He now buys numerous kinds of com- 



