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W4Mauin DairymeesJ Association 
simple reason perhaps, that they would not eat more, while 
others might be fed 15 or 18 lbs. per day and even return a 
good profit over the cost of the feed. 
The appetite of the cow is, however, a very poor guide to fol- 
low in determining the amount of grain she should be fed. 
Rather let the amount of butter that she is producing and her 
condition of flesh or live weight largely determine this. She 
should, however, in all cases be fed all the roughage, such as 
silage, hay, etc., that she will eat. 
While in selecting grains for the ration intended for the dairy 
eow2 it is desirable to have a. large amount of protein, we must 
not forget that no matter how much protein a certain feed may 
contain, if it is not palatable, i. e., if the cows will not eat it 
readily-the protein is of but little avail. 
One of the first things to determine about any food intended 
for the dairy cow, is its palatability. It makes no difference 
whether it is a soiling crop, silage or grain, it is absolutely es- 
sential that a cow relish her food. 
To illustrate this point, the analysis .of sorghum will show 
you that it contains but very little protein, but at the Wiscon- 
sin Experiment Station we have gotten better results by feeding 
sorghum to our dairy herd than any other soiling crop that we 
have ever raised, and this is largely because the cows relish the 
sorghum and will eat large quantities of it. 
At the Wisconsin Station the average amount of grain fed to 
the dairy cow is about 8 lbs. per day, this with 40 lbs. of silage 
and 6 lbs hay constitutes a day's ration for the average cow, 
during the winter, though as I have stated this amount varies 
considerably. 
An to the care of the dairy cow, one of the best general rules 
to observe is to Imep the cow as comfortable and contented as 
posile. If the anw is not comfortable and contented the 
oner will always be the loser. If the cows are allowed to 
taad out in the cold during severe weather a certain amount of 
food will be required to keep the body warn, which had she been 
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MWVX 
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