54 ILLINOIS STATE DAIRYMEN'S ASSOCIATION 



Grass is the natural food for the cow. It not only contains 

 all the necessary nutriment the cow needs for maintenance 

 and milk production, but it also furnishes succulence, with- 

 out which no cow can produce very much milk. 



Another important factor in milk production is content- 

 ment and comfort of the cow. To secure the largest produc- 

 tion, it is necessary to provide the ideal conditions, which 

 the cow enjoys when on good pasture during the month of 

 June, the year around as nearly as we can. 



Succulence for the ration can be supplied either in sil- 

 age or roots. The barn during the winter must be com- 

 fortable. It must have plenty of sunlight, fresh air and 

 must be neither too hot or too cold. 



The feed the cow gets must have the required nutrients 

 in the right proportions. It must have bulk, be digestible 

 and palatable, so that the cow will consume a large amount 

 of food. 



It is just as necessary that a cow drink a large amount 

 of water in a day as it is that she consume a large amount of 

 feed if she is to produce economically. Eighty-seven per 

 cent of milk is water. A cow that produces a large amount 

 of milk necessarily must drink a large amount of water. 

 Limit the water supply and the cow will drop in milk pro- 

 duction in the same proportion. 



During the summer months it is not difficult to get the 

 cow to drink all the water she needs. All that is necessary 

 is to give her free access to clean water. It is during cold 

 weather, when she is compelled to drink out of a tank that 

 is frozen with ice, that she refuses to drink all she needs. 

 The water for the cow should be warmed to about 50 de- 

 grees F. during cold weather. 



The cow should be milked quietly and quickly. A cow 

 is largely a creature of habit. If usually fed at the time of 

 her milking, she cannot be milked satisfactorily until she 

 has her feed. 



Special care should be taken to get all of the strippings. 

 The first milk drawn may contain as little as one per cent 

 of fat, while the last drawn may run from six to ten per 

 cent. 



