256 ILLINOIS DAIRYMEN'S ASSOCIATION. 



A : — Yes sir. 



By the President : — It relates to feed and feeding. It is a 

 book that a man would want to take home with him. 



FEEDING DAIRY COWS. 



Prof. W. J. Fraser, Dairy Husbandry, University of Illinois. 



1. Secure the rough fodders in the best possible condition 

 and use them liberally, as they are much cheaper than concen- 

 trates. 



2. Feed concentrates in proportion to the milk flow. 



3. Study and supply the individual needs of each cow. 



Before man had control over animals and they became do- 

 mesticated there were no highly specialized forms, and when they 

 roved wild on the prairies or in the forests, the problem of the 

 particular kind and character of their food supply was not an 

 important one for they were not expected to draw loads of several 

 tons weight, or to produce the abnormal yields of milk that are 

 given by the highly developed dairy cows of today. However, 

 after man domesticated animals and began to develop breeds suit- 

 ed to special purposes, as draft, speed, beef, or milk, the question 

 of their food supply became an all important one, for in order to 

 secure the best results their food must be adapted to their spec- 

 ial needs. 



One fact of great importance, and which must not be lost 

 sight of in economical feeding, is that the amount, kind, and 

 character of the food an animal requires depends entirely upon 

 the use to which that animal is going to put food. A cheap team 

 may be kept through an idle time on a kind of feed that would 

 not be at all suited to the needs of a race horse during the train- 

 ing season, or of a valuable cow yielding 100 pounds of milk a 

 day during an official test. 



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