FORTY-SECOND ANNUAL CONVENTION 257 



Individual Feeding. 



Different cows have different capacities for conA^erting feed 

 into milk. For this reason the above-mentioned rules can serve 

 only as indicators for the inexperienced feeder. No man who 

 has not a full appreciation of the wide variation in individual 

 cows will be fully successful as a feeder. Some cows may have 

 natural capacity for producing large quantities of milk, and may 

 not receive feed enough for maximum production. By increas- 

 ing the feed of the highest-producing cows and carefully con- 

 sulting the milk sheets on which each cow's daily production is 

 recorded, the skillful feeder will soon find that some cows in the 

 herd will respond to the increased allowance and return a good 

 profit on the additional feed given. On the other hand, there 

 are cows that have a limited capacity for milk production and 

 are very liable to be overfed. By carefully studying each indi- 

 vidual cow the feeder will soon ascertain the point beyond which 

 any addition to the grain ration becomes unprofitable. 



Water For Cows. 



All animals require plenty of good, pure water. This is es- 

 pecially true of the milking cow, as water constitutes more than 

 three-fourths of the total volume of milk. The water supply, 

 therefore, demands the dairyman's most careful attention. Stale 

 or impure water is distasteful to the cow and she will not drink 

 enough for maximum milk production. Such water may also 

 carry disease germs which might make the milk unsafe for hu- 

 man consumption or be dangerous to the cow herself. During 

 the winter, when cows are stabled the greater part of the time, 

 they should be watered two or three times a day unless arrange- 

 ments have been made to keep water before them at all times. 

 The water should, if possible, be 15° or 20° above the freezing 

 point, and should be supplied at practically the same temperature 

 every day. When water well above freezing temperature is 

 stored in tanks and piped directly to the cow, there is probably 

 little occasion for facilities to warm it. When it stands in a 

 tank on which ice often forms, it usually pays well to warm it 



