266 



STATE BOARD OF AGRICULTURE. 



is, of course, considerable corn, and it would be expected that, for the 

 sake of variety, it would be better to use grain other than corn to supple- 

 ment the ration. 



Examining Table II again it is noticed that millet hay furnishes 

 digestible nutrients so cheaply that it is probable that it could be 

 used to advantage in the ration with silage. Fifteen pounds per day 

 would be a fair amount to trv, the ration would then be: 



Ration 3. 



30 pounds silage 



15 pounds millet hay.. 



6 pounds malt sprouts 

 Total 



Cost. 



JO 0375 

 .0375 



.075 

 .045 



*0.12 



The silage and millet hay lack four pounds of dry matter and one 

 and two tenths pounds of protein of conforming with the standard 

 ration, as found below for the average sized cows of the College herd, 

 and falls still farther below the German standard. Table I shows 

 that six pounds of malt sprouts would furnish an ample amount of 

 dry matter, and with it nearly enough protein to make the ration ideal. 

 With the sprouts added the ration is as completed above and costs 

 twelve cents per day per cow. 



Remembering that gluten meal furnishes protein more cheaply than 

 malt sprouts do, we might try five pounds of gluten meal instead of 

 the malt sprouts. The 30 pounds of silage and 15 pounds of millet 

 hay, with five pounds of gluten meal, would make a ration having 

 24.52 pounds of dry matter, 2.32 pounds of protein, 12.96 of carbohydrates 

 and .03 of fat. Though the ration is more nearly perfect its cost is one 

 quarter of a cent less per day. 



Before deciding on the ration to be used, other combinations will 

 be calculated in the same way with other feed stuffs to find out whether 

 a cheaper and equally efficient ration cannot be compounded. The 

 method of making these calculations has been sufficiently illustrated, 

 and it will be enough to demonstrate the practicability of other com- 

 binations if the components are stated and the totals of the dry mat- 

 ter, protein, carbohydrates, fat and cost. Every reader of the bulletin, 

 however, who keeps dairy cows should make an inventory of the fodders 

 and grains he has on hand and of such materials as he can purchase 

 in the market, should set down the market price of the latter and the 

 selling price of the former, and with such data should compute several 

 rations, adopting the one giving the greatest efficiency at least cost. 

 Experience must teach the peculiarities of each feeding stuff. In the 

 dairy literature he will find recorded the results of experiments with 



