FIFTY-THIRD ANNUAL CONVENTION 137 



supply both calcium and phosphorus, while limestone, wood 

 ashes, and marl furnish lime, but practically no phosphorus. 

 If plenty of alfalfa, clover, soybean or other legume 

 hay is fed, then there may possibly be no advantage in 

 adding a calcium-rich mineral supplement to the ration. 

 However, even with legume hay available for winter feed- 

 ing, it can do no harm and may do considerable good to 

 add one of these lime carriers to the ration. 



Feed Calcium Supplements on Pasture 



Fresh, green crops contain an especially large amount 

 of vitamin needed to enable animals to assimilate calcium. 

 Therefore, the best way of replenishing the calcium in the 

 cow's body, which may have been seriously depleted by 

 high milk production during the winter feeding period, is 

 to feed a calcium-supplement when she is on pasture. There- 

 fore, it is especially important to mix one of the calcium- 

 rich supplements with the concentrate mixture fed to cows 

 on pasture. It is probably best to use more of the calcium- 

 supplement than for winter feeding. As much as 4 to 5 lbs. 

 of one of the calcium-supplements may be mixed with each 

 100 lbs. of concentrate mixture. If this mixture should not 

 be very palatable to the cows, the allowance of the mineral 

 supplement may be reduced somewhat. 



When the cows are not fed any concentrates during a 

 part of the pasture season, the calcium-supplement may be 

 mixed with salt and the cows allowed free access to it. 

 A mixture of 1/8 salt by weight and 7/8 limestone, wood 

 ashes, marl, or bone meal may be used for this purpose. 



What About Commercial Mineral Mixtures? 



It is entirely unnecessary to buy expensive commercial 

 mineral mixtures. Just as good results can be secured by 

 following the simple recommendations on these pages. 



