THE RURAL WORLD.

King Country Chronicle, Volume V, Issue 371, 21 June 1911, Page 3

THE RURAL WORLD.

COW FOODS. Professor R. Harcourt, in a lecture before the Dairymen's Association of Western Ontario, said foods that are fed in an immature state are liable to considerable variation. The place of grain in a ration is to increase the proportion of protein and other digestible materials, or in other words, to make the ration more concentrated. It is generally agreed that cows of 10001b weight need approximately 161b of total nutriments daily. Animals that are thin in flesh, especially when fresh in milk, can consume 21b or 31b more to advantage. Of these 1 Gib approximately 2.51b of protein is necessary in order to enable the cow to produce large and continuous yields of milk. If a cow is fed all hay she cannot eat enough of the food to obtain the amount of nutriments mentioned. Thus, suppose a cow should be fed all she can consume of any palatable, dry, coarse fodder, such as good hay, she would have at her disposal the following digestible nutriments, approximately Protein, 1.41b; fat, 0.41b; carbohydrates, 12.41b; total, 72.21b. It is clear that such ration lacks iron protein, as well as in total digestible matter. In order to overcome these deficiencies recourse is had to the concentrated feeds, rich in protein, and sufficient is added to increase the protein to the desired amount. This in brief is the function of grains, and concentrated by-products in the ration. It is, of course, evident that the cereal grains, as corn, oats, wheat, etc., are not sufficiently rich in protein to very materially increase its proportion in the diet. But these foods are rich in nitrogen-free-extract or carbohydrates, that are easily digested and are very useful when fed along with the coarser foods which contain much fibre. Pea meal, linseed meal, gluten feed, wheat bran, and middlings are foods rich in protein, and are, therefore, most valuable components for a ration intended for dairy cows. On the other hand it is evident that oat hulls, dried beet pulp, corn, bran, and such lowgrade materials cannot build up the protein side of a ration. They are also entirely unfit to be used as substitutes for linseecl meal, gluten feed, and such nitrogenous materials.

DAIRYING ITEMS It is not possible in one and the same animal to get the perfect butcher's beast and the perfect dairy cow. Every well-bred cow should , be weaned, leaving undesirable bull calves and mongrels to be killed for veal. It is essential to have a good bull, or money paid for good cows is thrown away on the raising of second-rate stulf. Too much cleanliness cannot obtain in the dairy nor in the cowshed, for what is amiss there will affect the dairy. Isolate every cow at calving time and keep her apart from the herd, to avoid the possibility of harmful excitement. At the end of 1908 there were in Germany 207 milk-control societies under the Danish method. These represented 88,'296 cows. One cannot expect a bull with a strong milking pedigree to look quite the same as one which is the product of beef strains alone. Dairymen must set their standards high. The work done in the attempt to "get there" will generally yield most satisfactory returns. The remote ancestors of cattle were hornless, but in course of time the hornless types were succeeeded by species the males of which had horns Pedigree (.and utility are perfectly compatible qualities, and the dairy-

man who combines them may build up a reputation for first-class stock. Do no excite the cows in the milking yard; one which normally gives milk rich in butter-fat may, when excited, come far short of the standard. It' breeders would strictly observe the rules of nature and see some common sense in dieting there would be little occasion to assist the cow when calving.