DAIRY MEETING. 95 



■feeds, are the valuable ingredients, as likewise are nitrogen, 

 phosphoric acid and potash in fertilizers. Consequently, in 

 order to know the value of a feed and to buy intelligently we 

 must know its analysis or the amount of these valuable ingredi- 

 ents it contains. The nitrogen in the fertilizer is its most costly 

 and valuable ingredient. The protein of feeds is manufac- 

 tured from this element nitrogen combined with several other 

 elements, by the plant itself. These nitrogeneous compounds, 

 or proteids as we call them, are made only by plants. As far as 

 is known the animal cannot manufacture proteids except from 

 like bodies it gets from the plant, and the plant is the only living 

 thing that can take the mineral nitrogen from the soil and 

 make protein from it. 



Why is protein necessary? The lean meat, the muscles, the 

 connective tissues, the skin, the horns, the hoofs, and the hair 

 are all made from the proteids of the food and can be made 

 from nothing else. Also the casein of the milk is made from 

 this material. The necessity for a sufficient ration of protein 

 is therefore self-evident and does not need to be emphasized. 

 A growing animal or one that is making lean meat or muscle 

 rapidly needs a ration carrying a larger percent of protein than 

 the mature animal. Likewise the dairy cow producing a large 

 amount of casein in her milk needs more to sustain her than the 

 mature ox. The office of the carbohydrates is to produce heat 

 and energy, also fat, in the animal body. The office of the ash or 

 mineral constituents is to form the bone or frame of the animal. 

 It is also now believed that the organic phosphorous compounds 

 perform an important office in the process of nutrition. 



What feeds shall we buy? In buying feeds usually the most 

 concentrated ofifered on the market will be found to be the most 

 economical. We cannot afford to pay freight long distances on 

 fillers or waste materials. As a general rule the farmer can pro- 

 duce the carbohydrates or energy forming material more 

 cheaply, in the form of mature corn silage or roots, than he can 

 protein. He consequently must look to the cheapest source of 

 obtaining this latter material. You are all familiar with con- 

 centrates carrying high percentages of protein, sucli as cotton- 

 seed meal, linseed meal, distillers grains, gluten feed, etc., and 

 the only question is which will furnish protein cheapest. I take 

 from the Vermont Station Bulletin 144 the following: — 



