a lot of grain and
roughage which should be fed at his own door, they are ideal. They will
eat much and return much.

As to feeding for milk, I have followed nearly the same plan through my
whole experiment. I keep an abundance of roughage, usually shredded
corn, before the cows all the time. When it has been picked over
moderately well, it is thrown out for bedding, and fresh fodder is put
in its place. The finer forages, timothy, red-top, clover, alfalfa, and
oat straw, are always cut fine, wetted, and mixed with grain before
feeding. This food is given three times a day in such quantities as will
be eaten in forty-five minutes. Green forage takes the place of dry in
season, and fresh vegetables are served three times a week in winter.
The grain ration is about as follows: By weight, corn and cob meal,
three parts; oatmeal, three parts; bran, three parts; gluten meal, two
parts; linseed meal, one part. The cash outlay for a ton of this mixture
is about $12; this price, of course, does not include corn and oats,
furnished by the farm. A Holstein cow can digest fifteen pounds of this
grain a day. This means about two and a half tons a year, with a cash
outlay of $30 per annum for each head. Fresh water is always given four
times a day, and much of the time the cows have ready access to it. In
cold weather the water is warmed to about 65 deg. F. The cows are let out in
a twenty-acre field for exercise every day, except in case of severe
storms. They are fed forage in the open when the weather is fine and
insects are not troublesome, and they sometimes sleep in the open on hot
nights; but by far the largest part of their time is spent in their own
stalls away from chilling winds and biting flies. In their stables they
are treated much as fine horses are,--well bedded, well groomed, and
well cared for in all ways.

A quiet, darkened stable conduces rumination. Loud talking, shouting, or
laughing are not looked upon with favor in our cow barn. On the other
hand, continuous sounds, if at all melodious, seem to soothe the animals
and increase the milk flow. Judson, who has proved to be our best
herdsman, has a low croon in his mouth all the time. It can hardly be
called a tune, though I believe he has faith in it, but it has a
fetching way with the herd. I have never known him to be quick, sharp,
or loud with the cows. When things go wrong, the crooning ceases. When
it is resumed, all is well in the cow world. The other man