42 ILLINOIS DAIRYMEN'S ASSOCIATION. 



COWS dropped their calves in the spring and early summer, only 

 one cow calving in the autumn. In the months of February, 

 March and April, to the cows that were giving the most milk, the 

 following ration was given : 4 pounds of bran, 4 pounds of corn 

 and cob meal, and shredded corn stover. This ration would have 

 been much better if alfalfa hay could have been added. It should 

 be remembered, however, that the cows were giving a small yield 

 of milk and perhaps the ration under the circumstances contained 

 enough nutrients for them. 



During the months of December and January the cows re- 

 ceived the following : 



RATION. 



Dry Carbohy- 



Food Stuff. Lb. Matter. Protein. drates. Fat. 



Corn and cob meal 5 4.24 .220 3.000 .145 



Rye 3 2.65 .297 2.028 .033 



Barley 2 1.78 .174 1.312 .032 



Corn stover 20 11.90 .340 6.480 .140 



Total nutrients 20.57 1.031 12.820 .350 



This is a poor ration for a dairy cow as it contains too little 

 protein and it is not a good combination of concentrates. 



If it seemed unprofitable to exchange home grown grain for 

 mill feed, well cured clover hay cut fine and mixed with the meal 

 would have improved the ration. 



Yearly Record of Best and Poorest Cow in Herd "J" and Average for 



Entire Herd. 



Milk, lb, 



Best cow, No. 4 7393 



Poorest cow, No. 2 3875 



Average yield of entire herd 4779 



'at, % 



Fat, lb. 



Butter, 



lb. 



3.73 



276 



322 





3.66 



142 



166 





4.08 



195 



228 





