THIRTY-EIGHTH ANNUAL CONVENTION 151 



fail. The lack of space forbids the discussion here of the proper 

 rotation of the crops. 



Grains. 



Corn. — This is the most important crop for Illinois dairy- 

 men. It can be grown successfully in all parts of the State and 

 it furnishes the largest amount of food nutrients per acre. For 

 these reasons it is the cheapest food, in so far as it can be used. 

 Because of the fact that it carries less protein than required for 

 a balanced ration, it can not be fed alone. If of good quality, it 

 is always relished by cows, and it can be fed in a variety of 

 forms, from the field while green as a soiling crop, from the 

 shock as fodder corn (stalk with ears), the ground grain and the 

 stalks, or in the form of silage. The dairyman, who can find 

 a complementary crop or crops which he can grow successfully 

 and which contains enough protein to balance the ration with 

 corn, has the problem of ecomomic feeding quite well in hand. 



Oats. — This crop can be grown well, especially in the cen- 

 tral and northern parts of the state. It is an excellent feed for 

 dairy cows and contains more protein than does corn. In fact, 

 the grain if fed alone would make practically a balanced ration. 

 The yields of nutrients per acre are so much less than in corn 

 that it is usually rather an expensive feed. A bushel of corn 

 contains more than twice as many pounds of digestible nutrients 

 as a bushel of oats. Therefore, the land which will produce 50 

 bushels of corn should produce over 100 bushels of oats, if the 

 same amount of digestible nutrients are obtained. When corn 

 is worth 70 cents per bushel, oats is worth about 35 cents and 

 corn is worth per ton about one- fourth more than oats. Outside 

 of this question of cost, oats is an excellent feed for dairy cows 

 and also for growing calves. 



Barley. — In the northern part of the state, barley can be 

 grown well and it makes a good feed. In composition it is 

 much the same as corn except that it contains a lower percent- 

 age of nutrients and is not as valuable bushel for bushel. There- 

 fore, it should not be grown generally unless the yield is much 



