The ration is bulky enough, for it contains nearly 24 lbs. of dry 

 matter ; but it needs another pound of protein, and has a pound too 

 much of carbohydrates and fat. Its nutritive ratio is 1 :9.1, which 

 is far too " wide." Had we known beforehand the nutritive ratio 

 of each of the feeds, we could have told at once that they cannot 

 possibly be combined in anj waj to make a balanced ration for 

 milch cows. The nutritive ratio of each feed is given in Bull. 154. 

 That of corn stover is 1 : 19.9 ; of mixed hay 1 : 7.4 ; of corn meal, 

 1 : 9.7 ; of oats, 1 : 6.2. Since even the most concentrated of the 

 four feeds has a nutritive ratio of only 1 : 6.2, no balanced ration 

 for milk can be made from these materials alone. We must put in 

 some other feed with a very " narrow " nutritive ratio to make the 

 ration balanced. 



On page 150 of Bull. 154 is given the composition of three feed- 

 stuffs which are often fed to stock, all of which are verv rich in 

 protein. These are old and new process linseed oil meal and cotton- 

 seed meal. We need about 3 lbs. of one of these to make our wide 

 ration as narrow as it should be. It is not wise to feed a cow 3 lbs. 

 of oil meal per day, because this grain has a laxative effect on the 

 animal. On the other hand, too much cottonseed meal has a con- 

 stipating effect on the animal and tends to make hard and tallowy 

 butter ; but 3 lbs. per day ought not to produce any bad effect. Let 

 us see what this quantity will do towards balancing the ration : 



564 



