372 ILLINOIS STATE DAIRYMEN'S ASSOCIATION. 



Only a few years ago grain was cheap and we drifted into 

 an extravagant method of feeding dairy cows on a ration com- 

 posed largely of concentrates, but we must now change our 

 methods of feeding to a ration composed largely of roughage, if 

 we are to produce dairy products most economically. 



The crops raised on dairy farms are of the greatest import- 

 ance ; because there are boarder crops, the same as boarder cows, 

 that do not pay for the land they occupy and the labor required 

 to care for and harvest them. Corn and alfalfa are the two 

 crops returning by far the most digestible nutrients per acre, and 

 these are practically the only crops grown on this demonstration 

 farm. The corn is nearly all put into the silo and the alfalfa is 

 made into hay. These are grown in equal quantities, and make 

 a balanced ration without the addition of high-priced purchased 

 feeds, resulting in a great saving over the common method of 

 feeding on dairy farms. 



The Place of Dairying in a Permanent Agriculture. 



Comparing the American grain farmer with the dairy farm- 

 er selling whole milk and getting no skim or buttermilk in return, 

 and also raising enough young stock to replenish his herd with 

 cows, the dairy farmer will reduce his fertility per acre exclusive 

 of the nitrogen which is suppHed by legumes, as follows : 



Amt. per 



Product acre, lb. Phosphorus. Potassium. Total. 



Milk 1350 $.113 $-097 $.210 



Old cows . . 40 . 034 . 002 . 036 



Total 147 . 099 . 246 



The dairy farmer selling milk will reduce his fertility only 

 one-fourth as fast as the grain farmer, and can maintain his sup- 

 ply of phosphorus by adding ij4 pounds, at a cost of 3 cents per 

 acre per year, if applied as rock phosphate, thus keeping up his 

 fertility indefinitely, as the supply of potassium is practically in- 

 exhaustible when consumed as slowly as in dairy farming. 



