FOOD FOR STOCK

Nelson Evening Mail, Volume LXIV, 7 January 1931, Page 2

FOOD FOR STOCK

MILK WITHOUT, PROTEIN PLAINT OF THE DAIRY. COW The Israelites of old, when called to task by Pharaoh, explained that they could not be expected to make bricks without straw. The daily cow on many farms to-day, if she wei’e gifted with speech, would have an equally good excuse for not “delivering the goods.” From thousands of bovine throats would arise the cry, “How can we produce milk without protein?” Thousands of farmers are merely keeping cows while the cows would be glad to return the favour and keep the owners if they had a chance, comments Professor C. H. Eckles in “Hoard’s Dairyman.” Even within the procession of discards headed towards the stockyards, undoubtedly sometimes one is sent not as an act of justice, but because she never had a chance. No matter how good a cow a man has to work for him, results can be had only when the cow has sufficient- amount of the proper raw materials with which to work. In other words, she must be fed right, which means, for one thing, that: she must have enough protein. If a carpenter is building a house and runs out of nails, it does not help matters to bring more lumber. He must have nails and nothing will take their place. A cow already abundantly supplied with timothy hay and maize will do but little better ,if given some barley or maize fodder in addition. What is lacking is protein, and nothing else will take its place. Give her some legume hay or a little linseed meal and see what happens. It is a well-known fact that in Northern Europe the average milk production per cow is 50 per cent, more than in the leading dairy States in the United States. One reason is that the feeds grown there are higher in protein and seldom is there any special shortage oi this constituent. Here we grow timothy hay and maize, both good feeds, but low in protein. Wild hay is likewise lacking in this respect. Oats contain about the right proportion of protein, but it is not high enough to make up the shortage in other feeds. Home-grown rations are almost certain to be short in protein unless lucerne is the chief roughage grown. With lucerne and farm-grown gram the average good cow can get enough protein, but for the heavy milker there will still be a shortage. The thing to do is clear. It is to raise your protein, if possible, principally in the form ot legume hays. If, however, additional protein is needed do not hesitate to buy it. It pays even at the high price such feeds always bring. So long as farm-grown grains aio on hand, do not buy low protein feeds merely because they are cheaper. As a matter of fact, the cheapest source of protein is nearly always in those feeds highest in protein, such as linseed meal, cotton-seed meal, giuten meal, or mixed feds guaranteed to contain at least per cent, protein. Two pounds a day ot high protein feed aded to a home-grown grain ration will help out wonderfully especially when no legume hay is on hand.