THIRTY-FIFTH ANNUAL CONVENTION. 299 



If a cow is to do her best she must be kept comfortable ar-rl 

 contented. Professor Haecker says a cow will consume more 

 feed for maintaining herself if kept in comfortable quarters. 



A cow producing a large flow of milk must be made to con- 

 sume a large amount of water daily. Unless she does, she can- 

 not be expected to keep up her flow of milk very long. In order 

 that a cow will consume the necessary amount of water daily, it 

 must not be colder than 48 deg. F. If colder, she will not con- 

 sume nearly enough. Many times have I observed cows going to 

 a tank containing ice water, drink a small amount of it, and then 

 go away shivering. A cow in this condition will require nearly 

 all her feed to keep her body warm and will havve very little 

 left to produce milk. Producing milk under such conditions is 

 like heating our homes with hall doors and windows open. 



My cows are turned out to water twice a day, in the morn- 

 ing and in the evening. They go to the spring 10 or 12 rods 

 from the barn. No matter how cold or blustery the weather. 

 They always go to the spring and drink and never shiver or 

 seem cold afterwards. The temperature of this spring water 

 is 48 deg. F. during winter. 



Feeding a Balanced Ration. 



Professor Fraser says "A cow cannot give in her product 

 what she does not receive in her feed." A cow weighing 1,000 

 pounds requires approximately .7 pounds protein, 7 pounds car- 

 bohydrates and one pound fat for a maintenance ration. And 

 for every 10 pounds average milk she requires an additional 

 ration of .5 pro., 2.2 pounds carbohydrates and .17 pounds fat. 

 A cow producing 50 poundss of 3.5 per cent milk will require 

 3.2 pounds protein, 18 pounds carbohydrates and .95 pounds fat. 



One mistake many dairymen make is in not feeding enough 

 protein. Nearly all of our crops in Illinois, except clover and 

 alfalfa are high in carbohydrates and fat but low in protein. 

 We must balance up the ration by supplying by-products rich 

 in protein such as oil meal, cottonseed meal and gluten feed. I 

 sell my oats and buy bran, oil meal and gluten feed. 



