134 ILLINOIS STATE DAIRYMEN'S ASSOCIATION. 



to produce milk. Producing milk under such conditions is like 

 heating our homes with all doors and windows open. 



My cows are turned out to water twice a day, in the morn- 

 ing and in the evening. They go to a spring ten or twelve rods 

 from the barn. No matter how cold or blustery the weather they 

 always go to the spring and drink and never shiver and seem 

 cold afterwards. The temperature of this spring water is 48 

 degrees F. during the winter. 



Now a word about feeding the cows. They must be fed a 

 balanced ration. Professor Fraser says : "A cow cannot give 

 in her product what she does not receive in her feed." A cow 

 weighing one thousand pounds requires approximately 7 pounds 

 protein, 7 pounds carbohydrates and 17 pounds fat for a main- 

 tenance ration. And for every ten pounds average milk she re- 

 quires an additional ration of .5 pounds protein, 2.2 pounds car- 

 b'^hydrates and .17 pounds fat. A cow producing 50 pounds of 

 3.5 per cent milk will require 3.2 pounds protein, 18 pounds 

 carbohydrates and .95 pound? fat. One mio^ake manv dairy. uen 

 make is in not feeding enough protein. Nearly all of our crops 

 in Illinois, except clover and alfalfa, are high in carbohydrate 

 and fat, but low in protein. We must balance up the ration by 

 supplying by-products rich in protein, such as oil meal, cotton- 

 seed meal and gluten feed. I sell my oats and buy bran, oil meal 

 and gluten feed. 



A good ration, besides containing the proper amount of 

 protein, carbohydrates and fat, must be palatable and must be 

 easily digestible. I find that a ration consisting of a variety of 

 concentrates gives better results than one consisting of only one 

 feed. I am feeding this winter one pound of oil meal to all my 

 cows, excepting two which receive about i 1-3 pounds daily. 

 To the cows producing from seven to eight pounds of fat per 

 week I feed in addition to the oil meal nine pounds of a mixture 

 of equal parts bran, buffalo gluten feed, corn and cob meal and 

 ground barley. To cows producing ten pounds of fat per week 

 I feed about twelve pounds of the mixture and i 1-3 pounds oil 

 meal. To cows producing less than seven pounds fat per week 



