EXPERIMENT STATION BULLETINS. 261 



puting rations, is to determine economical rations for the herd during the 

 winter and incidentally whether any of the grain grown on the farm 

 should be sold and the proceeds used to purchase commercial feeding 

 stuffs. 



FEEDING STUFFS GROWN ON THE FARM. 



Clover hay at $6.00 per ton. 



Timothy hay at 8.00 per ton. 



Silage at 2.50 per ton. 



Shelled corn at 30c bu. or 10.70 per ton. 



Oats at 22c bu. or 13.75 per ton. 



Wheat at.. 90c bu. or 30.00 per ton. 



Mangolds at 2.50 per ton. 



Millet hay at. 5.00 per ton. 



Corn stalks at 3.00 per ton. 



Oat straw at 2.00 per ton. 



FEEDING STUFFS IN THE MARKET. 



Linseed meal $19.00 per ton. 



Wheat bran 9.50 per ton. 



Wheat middlings _ 10.50 per ton. 



Gluten meal 17.00 per ton. 



Buckwheat middlings 18.00 per ton. 



Malt sprouts 15 00 per ton. 



Cotton seed meal 20.00 per ton. 



Pea meal 16.00 per ton. 



In making the selection of the feed for his cattle the farmer will be 

 controlled largely by the kind and quantity of coarse fodders he has on 

 hand. Regardless of their cost, whether known or unknown, or assumed 

 value in comparison with other feeds, these coarse fodders will form the 

 bulk of his ration. His cows are to be used as machines for converting 

 these products of the farm into butter. The dairyman will not consider 

 in the first instance then, what ration he can compound that will best suit 

 the cows from a physiological standpoint, that will make them give the 

 largest yield of milk and butter, regardless of cost, but what ration 

 will bring the largest net return for the forage upon his farm. In other 

 words the dairy herd must be considered as an integral part of the general 

 farm management and not as a separate institution whose best good is 

 to be considered independent of the rest of the farm. 



It is more than probable that the grain which the farm has produced 

 will not fit to the best advantage into the coarse fodders to produce the 

 best and cheapest ration. For the most part there is a ready market for 

 this grain for cash and should it appear that some by-product, like 

 bran or gluten meal, costing less in the market than the grain will 

 bring, is really worth more pound for pound to supply some needed 

 factor in the ration, he will sell part at least of the grain and buy 

 with the proceeds some of the given by-products. In this way he will 

 both better and cheapen h/'s ration. The wheat, for instance, he will 

 sell because its market price is greater than its value for cattle feed. 

 It is more than possible that the same thing is true of part at least 

 of his oats. Corn, on tin other hand, is produced so abundantly in 

 this country that it brings in the market a price relatively low, when 

 its high content of nutrients is considered. The dairyman will therefore 

 find himself seldom justified in selling corn. 



