240 ILLINOIS STATE DAIRYMEN'S ASSOCIATION 



No positive rule can be laid down as to the quantity of dry 

 roughage that should be fed, but about 6 to 12 pounds a day for 

 each cow, in addition to silage, will be found to be satisfactory 

 in most cases. When the dry roughage is of poor quality, such 

 as coarse, weedy hay or a poor grade of cornstalks, a large por- 

 tion can often be given to advantage, allowing the cow to pick 

 out the best and using the rejected part for bedding. With this 

 quantity of dry roughage the cow will take, according to her 

 size, from 25 to 50 pounds of silage. This may be considered as 

 a guide for feeding to apply when the roughage is grown on the 

 farm. Wlien everything has to be purchased, it is often mora 

 economical to limit the quantity of roughage fed and increase the 

 grain ration. 



Roughage Alone Too Bulky a Ration. 



While a cow's stomach is large and her whole digestive 

 system is especially designed to utilize coarse feeds, there is a 

 limit to the bulk that she can take. This limit is below the quan- 

 tity of roughage that it would require to furn'sh the nutrients 

 she must have for maximum production; that is, a ration may 

 contain the proper proportions of protein and carb-- hydrates and 

 still be so bulky that she can not handle it. She therefore should 

 have sonic grain even though the roughage in itself is a Oalanced 

 ration. 



Importance of a Balanced Ration. 



It is probably well at this point to refer briefly to the com- 

 position of feedstuffs as it relates to economical feeding of the 

 dniry cow. The cow takes into her digestive system feeds which 

 she utilizes for the production of body tissues, heating the body, 

 performing bodily functions, such as digesting feed, moving from 

 place tr place .and for milk production. For the purposes of the 

 present discussion, it is sufficient to say that the constituents or 

 compounds and the relative quantities necessary for these op- 

 erations have been determined ; that is, we know that milk con- 

 tains protein and energy or heat-producing constituents, the 

 protein being represented by the casein and albumin and the 



