THE ELLSWORTH OR “BARRE” SYSTEM OF FEEDING.
BY D. D. SLADE, CHESTNUT HILL, MASS.
My own experience, as well as that of others, has taught me that a cow properly fed twice a day, will give more milk, and be in better condition than when fed three times, or more frequently. This plan, which is known as the “Barre” system of feeding, may be adopted throughout the year, although it has been chiefly applied to the winter months, in the region where it has been most extensively pursued.
The poorest quality of fodder is given first, at the commencement of each meal, and before this is entirely consumed, another foddering of a better quality is placed before the cow, and finally a third, of the best hay. After this is consumed, roots, grain, etc., may be given immediately. In this way, the animal employs on an average about two hours at a meal—which occurs only twice during the day, with an interval of from six to seven hours between the morning and evening. Water, always slightly warmed, in cold weather, is offered at once, and it will be found that the cow will not drink so freely after she has begun to chew the cud. No food should be given between the meals, which should be at regular hours, and served with punctuality. So long as she chews her cud, which in the well-fed cow is about six hours, we can rest assured that her digestive organs have work enough before them, and that we cannot reasonably call upon them to do more.
The why and the wherefore of this system of feeding, which we heartily advocate, are well told in the words of Mr. Ellsworth, the originator. “The idea that a cow needs only two meals a day during the winter season, as long as she is kept upon hay or other dried fodder, notwithstanding the fact that she will eat much oftener, when obtaining her living from the pasture, may appear to the casual observer, to be contradictory to itself; but on a closer investigation we shall notice a rational, and I believe satisfactory reason for it. Of all the elements of which grass is composed, by far the larger part is water, which must render it much more bulky than an equal amount of hay, and for this reason, more is required to supply the wants of the system. During the season, therefore, when the cow must live by her own exertions, she must labor most of the time to obtain the requisite amount of nourishment, which she is not required to do while in the barn. We must not forget, also, that pastures in general are kept down so close during the greater part of the summer, that only by continual labor can her wants be satisfied.”
The same rules are applicable to the soiling of the cow during the summer months, the only difference being that green food is given in the place of dry. This may consist of rye, oats, barley, millet, or Hungarian grass, corn, English grass, etc., cut while in the milk. It will frequently be found that a proportion of dried hay will also at times be highly relished, and may be essential to allay any excessive looseness of the bowels, which may be produced by the succulent food.
During the time of eating, the milking and other necessary work may be done about the cow house, so that time may be thus economized.
As to the requisite amount of food, it may be taken as a safe rule, that a milch cow demands in food, three per cent of her weight. An average cow, then, will require from eighteen to twenty pounds of hay, in addition to a peck or two of roots per day, or the equivalent of this amount in green food during the summer months.
If the hay is good, and has been properly cured, or if rowen can be given, then there will be little or no demand for grain in any form. If otherwise, from one to two quarts of Indian meal, with two quarts of shorts per day, should be fed out, if we are to expect a good flow of milk. We have found excellent results to follow the practice of stirring the meal and shorts, or a portion of these, into a bucket of warm water, and offering this mixture immediately after the animal has consumed her dry food, and before any roots are eaten. This extra amount of fluid will be greedily taken, in this way, without any interference with a liberal supply of water at the end of the meal. Salt, at all times, should be accessible to the cow, and perhaps this article may be best supplied by placing a large lump of rock salt in the manger, to be licked as her wants may require.
Taking Central New England, as before remarked, as the latitude of experimentation, it will be found that one square rod of oats, Hungarian grass, barley, rye, and similar grasses, in proper condition, growing on land in a high state of cultivation, is amply sufficient for a cow for one day. Or in other words, to be within perfectly safe bounds, and considering the chances of partial failure, we may say, that under the conditions above mentioned, forty square rods, or one quarter of an acre, will produce ample food for one cow for thirty-five days. On this basis, upon one acre can be grown soiling material sufficient to keep a cow through the year, allowing also, a liberal amount of roots. How is this to be done?
We may assume that a man takes possession of a place on the first of April, which is the customary time in New England. Let him select an acre of the land most suitable to the purpose in view. Let him set apart forty square rods, or one quarter of it, for summer soiling, twenty square rods for the growth of roots, and the remaining one hundred square rods for crops, to be properly cured for winter use. The land having been thoroughly prepared, that is, in high tilth, sow as early in April as possible, on ten square rods, oats, or spring rye, at the rate of four bushels to the acre. This will be fit to cut, for summer soiling, in the first week of July.
On the fifteenth to twentieth of April, sow the next ten rods in a similar manner. This will be ready to cut about the fifteenth of July. On the first of May, sow oats or barley on the next ten rods, which will be fit for cropping August first.
On the tenth to the fifteenth of May put in the next five rods in drills, flat corn at the rate of three bushels to the acre, and a week later the remaining five rods are to be treated in a similar manner. This will give succulent food up to September.
As soon as the first ten rods of land, which were cleared of oats by the tenth of July, has been again prepared properly, sow Hungarian grass at the same rate as before stated. Do the same also with the next lot, cleared of oats by the first of August, putting in barley, however, in place of millet, as this is not injured by the early frosts. Barley may also be sown on the lot which was cropped about the tenth of August, or if this grain has already occupied the land, we may substitute corn, using a stimulating fertilizer to give it a rapid growth. In this way, we shall have a succession of green food up to November, augmented also by the tops of the roots when thinned out or when harvested. The larger varieties of the sweet corn may be substituted for the flat, and is perhaps better relished, although not affording perhaps so large a yield.
The twenty square rods devoted to root culture must receive attention as early in the season as possible—certainly by the first of May. The ground having been deeply plowed or spaded, and thoroughly manured, should be made perfectly level. The large sugar beet and the mangold wurzel are the most valuable for the milch cow, and may be sown at the rate of about six pounds to the acre. During their growth, careful attention should be given to them by keeping them free from weeds, and the surface of the ground loose and fresh. A good yield would give an average of about six hundred and fifty bushels to the acre, which will be eighty bushels for the plot of twenty square rods, and allowing the cow one-third of a bushel per day for the eight months of dry food. The roots should be secured from frost by placing them in the cellar or in deep pits well protected. The hundred rods which is to be devoted to the winter feeding, must be put down to oats at the same time, and exactly in the same manner as the first ten rods for summer soiling. Cut these when in their most succulent condition, which will be probably from the fifth to the tenth of July. Cure them well, and house or stack them in a suitable manner. The land having been again suitably prepared, the preceding crop must be at once followed by Hungarian grass, a bushel and a half to the acre, which will be fit for cutting as soon as the head is formed, which will be in about six weeks from the time of sowing. Cure it as far as possible in the cock, which will render it more nutritious.
The one hundred square rods being again cleared and put in order during the autumn, sow winter rye at the rate of three bushels to the acre. This will be ready to cut in the spring, and will afford green food much earlier than in any other way for soiling. If there is a surplus of any of the green crops, convert it into hay for winter use.
From the two croppings of the one hundred square rods, treated in the above manner, a fair yield will be a ton and a quarter of oats cured as hay, with an equal amount of Hungarian grass. Thus we have two and one-half tons of fodder, which will be amply sufficient for one cow through the eight months in which she is not receiving the green crops, allowing her the amount of hay per day which we have stated as necessary in conjunction with the roots and grain, in the quantities before mentioned.
Of course, where the feeding commences in April, if the place be taken in that month, food must be bought by the owner to last until the summer soiling in July. In the succeeding year, however, the crop of winter rye will come in early, to be used in conjunction with the dried fodder of the previous summer.