FIFTY-SECOND ANNUAL CONVENTION 33 



PRACTICAL RATIONS FOR DAIRY COWS 



Professor F. B. Morrison, Madison, Wis. 



Professor Morisson : Mr. President, ladies and gen- 

 tlemen : I am glad to talk to you people of Illinois this 

 morning that are here, I am sorry that there are not more 

 people here. Those of us who give addresses to farmers' 

 meetings get used to taking just what comes; when there 

 is a blizzard, we never expect very many people. 



I am going to talk to you this morning, not very much 

 upon what we might call practical rations for dairy cows, 

 telling you how many pounds of this and that to mix to- 

 gether to feed a cow to produce an increase of one-half or 

 three-quarters pounds more of butter fat, but I am going 

 to try to show the application of some of the recent dis- 

 coveries in stock feeding to the practical feeding of dairy 

 cows. 



First of all I want to point out that I like to look at all 

 kinds of livestock on the farm as living machines for con- 

 verting the products of the field into things that are of 

 more use to us, no matter whether it is dairy products, 

 meat, wool, labor or horses or whatever it is. 



It is very fortunate for us that these living machines 

 can utilize many crops that we would not care to eat. We 

 would object very seriously if our wives tried feeding us 

 .many of the raw products of our fields. The manufacturers 

 of the country thoroughly realize the fundamental fact 

 that in order to get any sort of efficient or economical 

 products, it is absolutely imperative that they keep their 

 factories supplies with the right kind of raw material and 

 in liberal amount. I don't believe any manufacturer ever 

 made much money in running his factory at one-fourth 

 capacity. However, many farmers do not realize those two 

 fundamental facts, that for efficient production they must 

 have the right kind of raw materials for these living fai 

 tories, and that means running these factories at fair c> 

 pacity. 



