48 BULLETIN 981, U. §. DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE. 
‘The cows had free access to salt and water, and a shelter was pro- 
vided for them where they were fed and milked. In addition to the 
pasturage, the cows received daily 1 pound of a grain mixture for 
each 4 pounds of milk produced. This mixture was made up of 
corn, bran, and oil meal in the proportion of 4 to 2 to 1. 
The cows were weighed before being turned on the pasture hess 
again each 10 days Teeter. Comene samples of the milk were 
taken every 10 days and tested for butter fat by the Babcock method. 
On account of the rank growth it was found advisable to mow the 
grass after the cows were turned into the field. Half the field was 
first mowed, and two weeks later the other half was cut. <A total of 
7.33 tons of hay was obtained, and after these cuttings the cows had 
no trouble in keeping the grass eaten down. Notwithstanding the 
fact that the rainfall for July, August, and September was light, the 
pasturage proved sufficient for the cows until frost. The cows were 
taken off the pasture on October 11. Table XVI shows in detail the 
results obtained from the Sudan grass pasture. 
TaBLE XVI.—Results obtained in pasturing | Sudan grass with dairy cattle at Man- 
hattan, Kans. 
Weight. Values. 
Cow. | s ma | Butter He 200s | ce 
a ain or | Milk pro-| 2 rain at an : above 
At start. At close. loss. duced. | reps fed. skim Grain cost of 
ee milk. feed. 
Pounds. | Pounds. | Pownds. | Pounds. | Pownds. | Pounds. 
NGS ee 1, 348 1, 302 —41 2EODSao eee Ooe US 684. 09 $60. 54 $20. 52 $40. 93 
IN@s Geese 1, 325 1, 267 —58 2, 473.9 92. 19 656. 50 65. $2 19. 69 46. 14 
INost0222=2 1, 175 1, 200 25 1, 104.3 37. 92 366. 25 27. 44 10. 98 16. 46 
No. 114 1, 248 1,185 —63 3, 334. 5 93. 87 870. 75 70. 49 26. 12 44, 37 
No. 196 1, 375 1, 397 22 2, 104.8 64. O01 595, 09 47, 35 17.85 29, 51 
No. 112 1, 391 1, 380 —11 587. 2 19. 11 263. 25 14. 46 7. 89 6. 58 
Rota = 1; 357 us 731 —126 | 12, 263. 2 389. 18 | 3, 435. 75 286. 14 103. 05 183. 09 
Table XVI shows an average loss in weight of 21 pounds a head, 
but this is not as much as milk cows ordinarily lose while on pasture 
during dry summers. The low average production of milk and 
butter fat was due to the poor performance of cows 102 and 112. 
This fact is attributed not so much to the feed as to the lack of 
persistency of these two cows in maintaining their milk now late 
in the lactation period. 
In arriving at the values given in Table XVI, the butter fat has 
been rated at 60 cents a pound and the skim ale at 50 cents a 
hundred pounds, assuming that 85 pounds of skim milk would 
remain after the cream was separated from 100 pounds of fresh 
milk. If the value of the 7.33 tons of Sudan grass hay at $10 a ton 
is added to the value of the butter fat and skim milk that the cows 
produced, the Sudan grass pasture must then be credited with a net 
