ILLINOIS STATE DAIRYMEN'S ASSOCIATION. 27 



but care should be taken not to get them in too high condition lest they 

 have caked udder or an attack of milk fever. During the week imme- 

 diately preceding calving some roots or other succulent food should be 

 given to keep the bowels loose. Immediately after calving, when cows 

 are copious milkers, it is not safe to draw all the milk from the udder, 

 for it frequently happens that by emptying the udder of a large mess of 

 milk there will be caused a sudden collapse by the attack of paralysis. 

 During the first week, the grain ration should be light and gradually 

 increase, so she is on full feed in the course of three or four weeks. Under 

 proper management a cow will generally continue to increase in her flow 

 of milk for from three to fourweelis. If she is not skillfully handled the 

 flow will increase for only about ten days or two weeks. Much depends 

 upon the relation between the cow and the milker; the greater the at- 

 tachment of the cow to her milker the more satisfactory the return. Few 

 cows ever produce their highest possible yield, simply because of a lack of 

 understanding of how a cow should be treated. Kindness and gentleness 

 are as important factors as good feeding. Comfortable quarters and 

 regularity, both in feeding and milking, are requisites to secure content- 

 ment, which after all is the one thing necessary to obtain a maximum flow. 



In our work, it is necessary to maintain a fixed relation between the 

 grain and roughage; but in practical feeding a cow should be fed meal 

 in proportion to her flow of milk and given at least some roughage ad 

 lib. In a general way one pound of mixed meal for three pounds of miik 

 yielded will be ample to maintain the flow. Some cows need more 

 roughage in proportion to grain than others, and on this account they 

 should have all the coarse feed they will eat; but no more should be given 

 than they will eat up clean, and they should be fed only twice a day. 



While our feeding standards have been very helpful, they have also 

 led astray most of our dairymen who are trying to adopt better methods 

 of feeding. Arbitrarily flxing the daily allowance at 2.5 of digestible 

 protein has caused an enormous less to dairymen, because but few ordin- 

 ary cows — and nearly all our cows are such — can make use of so much 

 protein. This seems indicated by our records. 



