44 ILLINOIS STATE DAIRYMEN'S ASSOCIATION. 



silage, ten pounds bran, eight pounds corn and cob meal, and 

 two pounds cotton seed meal, we vary these rations to suit the 

 capacity of the individual cow, feeding morning and evening; 

 after the latter has been eaten we feed ten pounds of clover hay 

 and during the day they are out to exercise and are fed all the 

 corn fodder they will eat up clean, they have access to salt and 

 well water supplied by a windmill. 



We cool our milk by running it over an areator, then setting 

 the cans into a thirty-six barrel tank of fresh water; this warms 

 the water for the cows, a saving of cow feed and convenience 

 combined. We cut and cure all our corn fodder and think it 

 has made us lots of money, for if the stalks are left in the field 

 the leaves are lost and the shucks become weather beaten and 

 indigestable in consequence, while the cows are turned into the 

 field which at this season is soft in this latitude. 



Some dairymen substitute corn fodder cut to one inch'-length 

 mixed with corn and cob meal, and bran put into a vat or tank 

 and thoroughly steamed then fed when cool, adding two pounds 

 linseed oil meal. I find the manure the best indicator of the 

 cows digestion. If it is dry she is feverish and should have linseed 

 ■oil meal; if, as in feeding ensilage, it is soft we feed cottonseed 

 meal, by studying feeds a feeder can soon see if his cows are 

 handled and fed properly. 



I would not dairy without ensilage, the silo makes it possible 

 to have succulent feed for the cows the year around, the very 

 kind of feed necessary for a large flow of milk and if frost should 

 cut a late piece of corn so it would be an utter loss, the silo will 

 save it. We frequently plant corn in clover ground after the 

 first crop of clover has been made into hay and raise corn nearly 

 ripe. • We have cut our wheat planted to corn and it reached the 

 dent stage. 



Last summer and autumn we had a very severe drouth, too 

 dry to germinate seed such as corn, sorghum and rye which is 

 usually planted for fall feeding till frost kills them, to make 

 matters worse a neighbor brought in some cattle from the stock 

 yards affected with pinkeye, it spread to our cows, they gave less 

 milk and looked haggard, we opened our silo, when there was 



