36 AGRICULTURE OF MAINE. 



one thousand pounds ; that is, more than one half of the clover 

 hay is material from which the animal gets no value. In a 

 word, the cow cannot eat enough clover hay to get digestible 

 material enough to enable her to give her full possibilities in 

 milk production. 



Note that alfalfa has a still larger amount of protein, giving 

 it a much narrower nutritive ratio ; narrower, in fact, than the 

 cow wants. So that it may be fed as a supplementary feed with 

 corn silage or timothy hay. However, it is still open to the objec- 

 tion of having a considerable proportion of indigestible fiber, 

 so the search for supplementary feed for timothy hay cannot 

 rest here. It means that some concentrate, as a whole grain or a 

 grain product, must be used. First examine corn. We note 

 that adding all of the digestible nutrients it contains more than 

 any other feeding stuff mentioned, but has a nutritive ratio of 

 I :io, which is again too wide for the cow. Oats it will be noted 

 contain more protein and less of the carbohydrates and fat, giv- 

 ing it a nutritive ratio of i : 6, just what the cow said she 

 wanted. Here it may be noted that all young growing animals 

 need just about the same feed as the cow producing milk, and 

 in these two facts we have the explanation of why oats is a bet- 

 ter grain for colts, calves and lambs than corn. It is not that 

 they contain anything the corn does not, or that corn contains 

 anything that oats does not, but that the proportion of the nutri- 

 ents is right in the oats for the cow and the young growing 

 animals. It will be noted that clover hay and oats, both being 

 rich in protein, may be combined so as to make the perfect 

 ration for the cow, and that is true. The only reason the dis- 

 cussion does not rest here is that we have, not provided any 

 substitute for either silage or timothy hay for cow feeding, hence 

 the search must go farther. Wheat bran, which corresponds 

 somewhat closely to your mixed feeds, contains a still larger 

 amount of protein and a smaller amount of the carbohydrates, 

 giving it a nutritive ratio of about i '.4. This explains why you 

 get good results in feeding this with either corn or timothy hay. 

 Another question here arises, as to whether this is the cheapest 

 source of protein. Note there are several other feeds containing 

 much larger amounts of protein, as gluten feed, cottonseed and 

 linseed meals. The question then arises, are these other feeds of 



