FIFTY-FIRST ANNUAL CONVENTION 123 



production without grain cannot be compared with the six 

 year's production of the whole demonstration. No such 

 comparison is intended. 



In this milk per acre experiment it was not expected to try out 

 feeding roughage alone but to see what cows would do without pur- 

 chased feed. One year the corn crop was poor and there was not 

 enough to supply corn for husking. However, the twelve grade cows 

 averaged 8318 lbs. milk and 284 lbs. fat, consuming 39 lbs. silage, 

 15.3 lbs. hay, and the equivalent of 1 lb. hay in soiling crops. This 

 is not an argument for not feeding grain, but is an argument for the 

 large value and economy of silage and alfalfa hay. 



Marvelous Results from Roughage Alone. 



The fact remains, however, that this unprecedented 

 record, not planned at all nor foreseen, but which devel- 

 oped from practical difficulty, showed that 8,318 lbs. of 

 milk and 284 pounds of fat per cow were produced from 

 twelve cows fed on silage and alfalfa without grain. And 

 these were grade cows, only one of which was an exception- 

 ally high producer. They produced an average of 22.4 lbs. 

 of milk per cow per day and consumed an average of 39 

 pounds of corn silage, 15.3 pounds of alfalfa hay per day, 

 and a small amount of soiling crops that if dried into hay 

 would have equaled about one pound per day. That is the 

 tremendous fact attesting the high food value and almost 

 perfect suitability of these companion crops as a dairy feed. 



What it Does and Does Not Mean. 



Undoubtedly these cows would have produced more 

 milk and would have done it more economically had they 

 had some grain for a few weeks immediately after freshen- 

 ing. While the results of feeding roughage alone do not 

 mean that cows producing heavily should not be fed grain, 

 it does show in a most forceful manner the great value of 

 good corn silage and alfalfa hay as the principal ration for 

 all dairy cows and as a complete ration for cows during the 

 winter season when they are not producing over 20 pounds 

 of milk per day. It is a well known fact that digestible 



