Live Stock Breeders' Association. 201 



three pounds of milk would not work out in all cases, since in a 

 heavy milking Holstein cow this gives a little too large a quantity 

 of grain, and with a Jersey giving very rich milk it is a little too 

 low. It applies best to cows producing milk of about average com- 

 position. 



REASONS FOR FEEDING BALANCED RATIONS. 



The second statement regarding the summer conditions which 

 are to be maintained throughout the year is that the animals are 

 receiving a balanced ration. The ordinary pasture grasses, es- 

 pecially blue grass, when in the growing state, contains the proper 

 proportion of nutrients to enable a dairy cow to produce the maxi- 

 mum amount of milk of which she is capable. The winter ration, 

 on the other hand, is liable to have these nutrients out of propor- 

 tion. This is one point wherein common practice falls far short of 

 continuing the summer conditions throughout the winter. The 

 feeding of a ration not properly balanced is one of the most com- 

 mon mistakes made on the average farm in the corn belt on ac- 

 count of the usual abundance and cheapness of corn and corn fod- 

 der. 



All good rations contain substances which serve two quite dis- 

 tinct purposes when taken into the body. 



First. Certain substances known as protein which build up 

 muscle, bone and hair. Protein is found in almost all food, but 

 in especially large quantities in alfalfa, clover and cow pea hay, 

 bran, cottonseed, linseed and gluten meals, also in nearly a pure 

 form in lean meat, the white of an egg, and curd in milk. No other 

 element can take the place of protein. 



Second. Another class of substances supply heat to keep the 

 body warm, fat to be stored in the tissues as body fat or put into 

 milk as butter fat, and energy to keep up the functions of the body. 



This class is represented by two kinds of material, different in 

 character but serving largely the same purpose in the body called 

 carbohydrates and fats. The carbohydrates are present in large 

 quantities and in nearly all grains such as corn, wheat and barley, 

 and in corn fodder and timothy hay in the form of starch. In other 

 plants, such as sorghum and sugar beets, it is found in the form of 

 sugars. The fats are found in varying -quantities in all common 

 grains. 



All properly balanced rations must contain protein, carbohyd- 

 rates and fat, and no amount of carbohydrates or fat can take the 

 place in the body of protein. 



