120 ILLINOIS STATE DAIRYMEN'S ASSOCIATION 



Whether or not the feeder is justified in carefully calculat- 

 ing the rations for his individual cows, is for him to decide. It 

 is, however, quite necessary to his success that he famiUarize 

 himself with the composition of the feeds available so that he 

 may feed such a ration as will approximately balance and thus 

 supply the needs of the cow that is expected to yield a maxi- 

 mum product. 



In order that the dairy cow may digest her food to the best 

 advantage it must be remembered that she requires a certain 

 bulk. According to the best feeding standards, the ration for a 

 dairy cow should contain from 25 to 28 pounds of dry matter. 



Supplementing the Pastures. 



The careful observer has often noticed when a balanced ra- 

 tion containing plenty of palatable and succulent material is fed 

 the cows are yielding the best returns. This condition is most 

 frequently reached when the cows are in good pasture. This 

 being the case, it ought to be the business of every dairyman tc 

 approach as closely as possible summer conditions througout the 

 year. 



In most localities of Nebraska, and I believe in your state, 

 the pasturing season is quite short. In other parts the land is 

 almost too valuable for pasturing. For these reasons the farmer 

 should provide an abundance of good, cheap, succulent feed for 

 his cows, not alone for the winter months but to help out during 

 the dry, hot periods of late summer and fall. In this state this 

 can be accomplished most economically by providing silage and 

 the growing of crops, such as sugar beets, mangel wurzel, car- 

 rots, etc., and by raising some good soiling crops. 



The soiling system easily adjusts itself to conditions where 

 labor is plentiful and cheap and where land is very high. Soil- 

 ing has been practiced very extensively in European countries. 

 In America where conditions are radically different as regards 

 cost of labor and the price of the product, the use of soiling has 

 not been generally adopted. However, even in Nebraska, if it is 



