256 ILLINOIS STATE DAIRYMEN'S ASSOCIATION. 



FEEDING EXPERIMENTS WITH COWS AND CALVES. 



By 



John Michels, North Carolina Experiment Station. 



In most sections outside of the cotton belt the cost of protein 

 feeds is high in comparison with those of a carbonaceous nature. 

 In the South with its abundance of cottonseed meal, protein is 

 relatively cheap. Because of these facts, the work of the stations 

 outside of the cotton belt has been directed mainly toward secur- 

 ing data as to how wide a ration can be successfully fed to dairy 

 cows. Obviously, from what has been stated above, an import- 

 ant problem with the North Carolina farmer is to determine how 

 narrow a ration can be successfully fed. The experiment report- 

 ed in this bulletin, therefore, was undertaken with a view of de- 

 termining the relative economy of a narrow ration and of a me- 

 dium wide ration. 1 



Plan of Experiment. 



The experiment was divided into three periods of twenty- 

 eight days each. In periods I and III a narrow ration was fed 

 consisting of 5 parts cottonseed meal, 4 parts wheat bran, 3 parts 

 corn meal and 50 pounds corn silage. This ration had a nutri- 

 tive ratio of approximately 1 14. During period II the ration 

 was the same as in periods I and III, except 2.5 pounds cotton- 

 seed meal were replaced by 2.5 pounds of corn meal, giving this 

 ration a nutritive ratio of approximately 1 15.7. Each period 

 was preceded by ten days preliminary feeding. 



Eight cows from three to six weeks in lactation were used 

 for the experiment. Cows Nos. 6 and 7 received 9 pounds of 

 grain; Nos. 1 and 4, 10 pounds; No. 2, 11 pounds; and Nos. 3, 

 5 and 8, 12 pounds. The grain was always fed before the rough- 

 age. 



The milk from each cow was weighed daily, and composite 

 samples of it were tested weekly by the Babcock test. The cows 



1 In a wide ration there is less protein in proportion to car- 

 bonaceous matter than in a narrow ration. 



