282 ILLINOIS STATE DAIRYMEN'S ASSOCIATION. 



mixed with the clover, they managed to pick out the clover and 

 ate the timothy only when forced to do so. It was practically 

 impossible to induce the cows in Lot 2 to consume enough feed 

 to supply sufficient protein for large quantities of milk. 



Just such rations are fed to many Illinois dairy herds, the 

 owner believing that it is only necessary to supply an abundance 

 of feed, almost regardless of quality. When such unbalanced 

 rations are fed, the cows do not keep in good physical condition 

 and therefore cannot consume as large quantities of feed nor 

 produce as much milk. 



Lot 1, receiving the better ration, ate larger quantities of 

 feed with greater relish, and kept in much better physical condi- 

 tion. They not only ate more feed, but made much better re- 

 turns per 100 pounds of feed consumed. Seldom were any of 

 the cows in Lot 1 "off feed," but in Lot 2 this frequently oc- 

 curred. 



Results in Production of Milk. 



Table 1 shows that the average difference in milk per cow 

 per day during the preliminary week was 1.7 pounds in favor of 

 Lot 1, which received the better ration. During the first week 

 of the test this difference increased to 5.8 pounds per cow per 

 day, during the seventh week to 13.2, and during the last five 

 days to 12.2 pounds. 



The average difference per cow per day for the 19 weeks 

 was 10.65 pounds, and the total difference between the two lots 

 was 12,553.2 pounds. The initial difference of 105.4 pounds of 

 milk per week between the two lots, if carried through the en- 

 tire test would amount to a total of 1.973 pounds. This differ- 

 ence taken from the 12,553.2 leaves 10,580.2 pounds directly 

 due to the difference in the rations. This difference for the lot 

 during the entire period, due to the poor ration, was equal to 

 2 T / 2 times the average production of the cows fed the good ra- 

 tion. In other words, six and one-half cows received the bal- 

 anced ration produced as much milk as the nine cows fed the 

 unbalanced ration. 10.580 pounds of milk at $1.50 per hundred 

 would be worth $158.70, the loss on nine cows for 131 days, 



