30 AGRICULTURE 01- MAIXE. 



Nutritive ratio is a term used to designate the ratio between 

 the protein in a food and the carljohydrates and fat combined. 

 It is usually expressed with the protein as one, and the other 

 nutrients in their proportion to unity. A common nutritive 

 ratio for milch cows is i : 5 or i : 6. If it were i : 9 we should 

 call it wide, or if i : 3 we should say it was narrow. 



FUNCTIONS OF NUTRIENTS. 



Protein: 



2L. Protein and protein alone forms flesh, albuminoids in 

 milk and nitrogenous tissues. 



b. Protein forms fat, as shown by many experiments and 



tests. 



c. Protein produces heat to keep up body temperature. 



d. Protein furnishes energy for muscular exertion. 



e. Protein is a milk stimulant. 



Protein alone can sustain life indeiinitely. Xo other nutrient 

 alone can do this. 



Fat: 



a. Fat is a source of fatty tissue. 



b. Fat supplies body heat. 



c. Fat is productive of muscular energy. 



d. Fat protects protein from oxidation. 



Carbohydrates: 



a. Carbohydrates supply heat. 



b. Carbohydrates furnish energy for muscular exertion. 



c. Carbohydrates protect protein from undue oxidation. 



d. Carbohydrates are believed under some circumstances to 



form body fat. 



It is important that the feeder provide enough protein to 

 secure the desired product, but having furnished enough, the 

 bodv temperature and vital processes can be most economically 

 maintained with less costly carbonaceous feeds. 



Feeding Standards are statements of the amounts of digestible 

 protein, carbohydrates and fat which experience has shown to 

 be best adapted to a given purpose. They are deduced from 

 actual trials with various combinations of fodders of known 

 digestibility and composition. By beginning at one extreme and 

 trying all sorts of proportions from that to the other a point 

 between the two is found where the product is produced at the 



