88 



AGRICULTURAL EXPERI^JTENT STATION. 



material more nitrogenous than the corn meal or bran. Cotton-seed 

 meal, linseed meal, pea meal and gluten meal are of some of the foods, 

 any one of which would serve to amend the ration. Let us calcu- 

 late the ration with three pounds of cotton-seed meal put in the 

 place of two of the four pounds of corn meal. 



Digestible Material in Amended Eation. 



i>0 



Ensilage, 40 lbs 



Timothy hay, 10 lbs 



Corn meal, 2 lbs 



Cotton seed meal, 3 lbs 



Wheat bran, 2 lbs 



Total 



5.10 

 5.13 



1.57 

 2.20 

 1.18 



15.18 



.a. 



s 



1.63 



1.76 



.03 



.06 

 3.48 



Even now our ration is not strictly in accordance with the stand- 

 ard, but it is probably as nitrogenous as is advisable. Id fact, the 

 practical tests of the German feeding standards which have been 

 made within the past few years, show that a ration may be very 

 efficient when it differs from them considerably. These standards 

 furnish a good working basis, however, not only for practical feed- 

 ing experiments, but also for scientific investigation in matters per- 

 taining to the feeding of farm animals. Fixed standards for the 

 guidance of cattle feeders may certainly be made useful, and whether 

 the German formulas are approximately correct or not, they surely 

 are a long step in the direction of practice based upon scientific 

 principles. It is because of the prominent place the so-called Ger- 

 man rations have in the current discussions concerning the feeding 

 of live stock, and because these rations furnish valuable suggestions 

 to stock growers and dairymen, that they are given here and their 

 use explained. The farmer who understands the purpose and mean- 

 ing of these rations, and the general principles upon which they are 

 based, is prepared to quickly grasp and apply the better knowledge 

 to which they may lead, 



