752 
‘Ihe RURAL NEW-YORKER 
Live Stock Matters 
Conducted By Prof. F. C. Minkler 
Improving Dairy Ration 
I have six cows, mixed Holstein and 
Guernsey; Lave oats and corn of my 
own, silage and mixed lmy. I am feed¬ 
ing one bushel of silage twice each day and 
what lmy they will clean up three times 
a day. also ground oats and corn-and-cob 
meal and cottonseed meal to the cows I 
mui milking. All have not freshened yet. 
What is the best ration to feed to produce 
a good amount of milk? They do not 
produce the milk they should. W. J c. 
New York. 
With an abundance of silage and mixed 
hay it would be appropriate for you to 
feed grade Holstein and Guernsey cows 
all of the silage that they would con¬ 
sume morning and evening, and likewise 
let them have all of the bay that they 
would clean up during the middle of the 
day. Where you have oats, corn and 
cottonseed meal you would get good re¬ 
sults by mixing these materials in the 
following proportions: 400 lbs. corn-and- 
cob meal, 400 lbs. cottonseed meal, 300 
lbs. ground oats, 150 lbs. bran. Feed the 
cows in proportion to their production, 
insist that they maintain a constant 
weight, and that they maintain sufficient 
vigor to enable them to make the best 
use of the feed supplied. 
Feeding for Milk 
Will you give me a balanced ration for 
my cows, which are mostly Jerseys with 
a few Guernseys and liolsteins? I have 
plenty of hay, but not of a very good 
quality for milk, but well cured. Cows 
all fresh and due to freshen shortly. I 
first fed gluten and bran, then added a 
mixed dairy ration. Could not a ration 
consisting of the following be used to bet¬ 
ter advantage: Gluten, mixed feed, wheat 
middlings, hominy, oilmeal and cotton¬ 
seed meal, or do you think some cormneal 
should be added? Will you kindly ad¬ 
vise me quantity of these feeds or others 
that you may suggest to use? Cows all* 
fat and in good shape at present. 
New York. at. B. C. 
It would seem from your inquiry that 
you have neither silage nor hay that will 
contribute very much feeding value. 
Under such circumstances one must of 
necessity feed an added amount of grain, 
likewise he must make sure that a gen¬ 
erous amount of protein is provided. 
Eliminating then the mixed feed, the fol¬ 
lowing combination, including the other 
materials named, would serve as a bal¬ 
anced ration for dairy Cows recently 
freshened: 300 lbs, hominy, 300 lbs. 
cormneal, 100 lbs. oilmeal, 100 lbs, .glu¬ 
ten, 200 lbs. cottbnseed meal. 100 lbs. 
wheat middlings, or preferably wheat 
bran. Of course, this ration will lack 
succulence, and it might be profitable for 
you to substitute some beet pulp for a 
portion of the hominy and oornuieal. As 
safe a rule as would apply would be to 
feed 1 lb. of the grain mixture for each 
3% lbs. of milk produced per cow per 
day, ami in addition, supply all the 
roughage that she will consume at one or 
two feedings. I dislike very much the 
conditions that you have outlined, viz., 
Where you have-only a poor grade of hay 
to rely upon as a source of roughage. It 
Would be to your advantage to obtain 
some clover hay or Alfalfa hay, or even . 
corn fodder is more acceptable than the 
over-ripe low-grade of mixed hay. You 
are fortunate in having your dairy cows 
in good condition at freshening time, for 
this is essential if it is desired that they 
shall carry on through their milking 
period with satisfactory yields of milk. 
Ration for Heifer 
We have a young heifer which fresh¬ 
ened about the first of February, only 20 
months old. She is producing 24 qts. of 
milk per day. T am feeding nicely cured 
green mixed hay, about one-third clover. 
costing $35 per ton. which is the best I 
can do around here. She refuses to cat 
corn fodder. At present I am feeding 
her about 4 lbs. of feed and 5 or C lbs. of 
corn-and-cob meal a day; all the hay she 
will clean up. She has fresh water be¬ 
fore -her all the time, but seems to be 
losing in flesh. I can obtain all ordinary 
grains locally. Will you suggest a better 
balanced ration? When do you think this 
heifer should he turned drv? n. H. 
Ohio. 
A yield of 20 quarts of milk per day 
from a heifer with her first calf is quite 
unusual, and the animal ought to be the 
making of a first-class dairy cow. No 
doubt, she comes from a family noted for 
more than average production. Tt would 
ho well if you would add more variety to 
the ration vou are supplying. A mixture 
consisting of 50 lbs. corn-and-cob meal. 
40 lbs. feed. 25 lbs. bran. 25 lbs. oilmeal 
would give you good results. It might be 
necessary to include more of the cormneal 
or hominy meal, especially if the cow con¬ 
tinues to lose flesh. You would he justi¬ 
fied in feeding a cow that produced 50 lbs. 
of milk as much as 12 or 14 lbs. of grain, 
especially if she is a young animal that is 
growing is well as producing. Feed her 
all of th ■ clover lmy that she will eat. 
As to the length of lactation period 
most desired among heifers, 1 would say 
that 1 should arrange to put her dry at 
the end of nine or 10 months. I should 
let her have at least 12 weeks’ rest period, 
which would mean that she should bo 
mated four or five months after calving. 
It is often necessary to feed heavy pro¬ 
ducing cows rather heavily during their 
dry period, especially young animals that 
have evidenced unusual milking qualities 
during their first lactation period. As 
soon as this heifer goes dry and the udder 
is completely dried up, I would begin 
feeding her a ration consisting of equal 
parts of corn, oats, bran and oilmeal, and 
would expect her to put on a generous 
amount of flesh during this interval, so 
that she will freshen in very good order. 
Buying Registered Stock 
I am about to buy some purebred reg¬ 
istered Holstein cows and heifers. I am 
no judge of stock; I want to get my 
money’s worth as near as possible. One 
man writes me that he refused $200 for 
• April 10, 1920 
this cow that he is about to sell me when 
she was dry, as a prospective buyer 
wanted her tested for tuberculosis, and 
lie refused to have her tested. Wliat 
should he required of a good registered 
cow. and wliat is a fair price? av. a. av. 
Pennsylvania. 
The tuberculin test is the safest agency 
that Ave knoAv of to determine the pres¬ 
ence of tuberculosis among cattle. If 
you are going to found a herd through 
the purchase of even a small number of 
cattle, by all means iusist that the ani¬ 
mals he subjected to the tuberculin test. 
I would not. under any circumstances, 
buy an animal from an owner who would 
refuse to have the animal tested. Ir is 
absolutely impossible to even suggest val¬ 
ues without, knowing so.nothing about the 
breeding of individuals and without hav¬ 
ing some idea as to their conformation 
or milk-producing ability. Vt lues of 
purebred cattle are based upon both in¬ 
dividuality and breeding, and there is a 
wide range in price. Tf you could go to 
6!pme reasonable breeder of liolsteins, it 
is possible that’ you could find one or two 
animals that would im r l ; your conditions 
at # prices varying from $200 to $40,t. 
Make sure that the at Imal comes from 
a herd that is believed to he free from 
tuberculosis and contagious abortion, and 
insist that the cow he repres utative of 
animals noted for persistent production. 
Changes in Dairy Ration 
I am feeding my cows the following 
mixture: 5 bags cormneal, 5 bags bran. 
4 bags ground oats, 2 hags gluten. 1 bag 
cottonseed meal, 2 bags white middlings, 
1 bag oilmeal. I have these turned m el¬ 
on a clean floor three times, and 1 also 
add salt to the mixture. Would you sug¬ 
gest any more or any less of these feeds? 
I feed plenty of silage and mangels with 
mixed hay. h. h. 
The most expensive product that you 
Iuia'c in the ration suggested above is 
wheat middlings, and I should eliminate 
them entirely front your ration, since you 
are feeding so much wheat bran. I 
should double the amount of cottonseed 
meal, and also double the amount of oil- 
meal. so that yout ration would be: 400 
lbs. corn-and-cob meal. 300 lb*, bran. 300 
lbs. ground oats, 200 lbs. gluten, 200 lbs. 
cottonseed, 200 lbs oilmeal. 
<■/ ' 
Ed. Uvaa> Made $1900 in 
84 Days* Work 
I purchased one of your No. 1 tile 
ditching machines in April, 1915, and 
the gross earnings from 84 days' oper¬ 
ation were $2200. 1 paid out for help 
and supplies $287.00, and my repair 
bills amounted to $20. This netted me 
$1902.00. My crew consisted of one man 
beside myself. I had never done con¬ 
tract tilingbeforegetting your machine 
and my farm work took up consider¬ 
able of my time. 
ED. UVAAS, Larsen, Wisconsin 
$6,350 from »n* Seaton's 
Ditching f#r J. E. Griffith 
1 own and operate a No. 1 
Contractor’8 Buckeye Ditch¬ 
er and as an investment it 
cannot be beat. I recom¬ 
mend it to any one going 
into the business. 
I have dug 268 rods in 10 
hours, and 1 dug 18,370 rods 
earning $6,350 during the 
1918 season. During that 
time I was often held up by 
lack of tile, and harvest. 1 
average 175 rods per day. 
J. E. GRIFFITH, 
London. Ontario. 
R. W. Iherrard made 
$71.00 in oneday 
On one job I cut 117 rods 
of ditch, averaging 42 inches 
deep, made four connections 
and two curves in one actual 
day’s work, for which I re¬ 
ceived $71. I passed the_41 
mile mark of ditching with 
my machine on this job, and 
the machine is in A-l con¬ 
dition. This, in a little over 
three years, and I have not 
run the machine one half 
the time, having other work 
to attend to. 
R. W. SHERRARD. 
Rochester. Indiana. 
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