COWS & PASTURES

Wairarapa Times-Age, 5 December 1938, Page 7

COWS & PASTURES

SECURING GROWTH OF FEED. Pasture, writes an Australian authority, is the all-important food of dairy cows. It requires comparatively little equipment and labour to secure the growth of feed, and apart from surpluses, cut and stored for later use, the cows do all the harvesting; no barns or buildings are necessary for storage of pasture, and no labour is required for feeding. The high protein, mineral and vitamin contents, and the palatability of green pastures make the excellent fodders for milk production. Pastures should be encouraged by sowing the most suitable grasses and clovers for a particular locality, by top-dressing and rotational grazing, and will be at a minimum in late spring and at a maximum in winter. Cows adequately fed during the autumn and winter will yield up to twice as much in me spring as they would if they were not properly fed, for those that have been allowed to fall in condition must regain strength before they can produce maximum yields. Many dairy cows are walking skeletons, starved because farms are overstocked and because some owners apparently think it does not pay to feed. The rerriedy is t» run just such a number that sufficient hay may be cut and conserved to be fed to the herd during late autumn, winter and early spring. The progressive farmers like to conserve more hay than they will be likely to require in a" normal year. ’