226 



Missouri Agricultural Report. 



3.84 pounds carbohydrates and .07 pounds of fat. Since we have 

 learned from actual feeding experiments that corn has about the 

 same feeding value as barley, and one can be substituted for the 

 other, it is only business-like to note which is the cheaper. Corn 

 costs five dollars less per ton, which makes considerable difference 

 for* feeds so nearly alike in feeding value. This indicates that it 

 often pays to exchange some home grown grain for milk feed. 

 How is it to be determined that barley or corn or any other feed 

 stuff is needed at all? This is largely ascertained by chemical 

 analysis and digestion experiments, the results of which are com- 

 bined in feeding the tables found in books and periodicals, and is 

 one of many illustrations of the benefits conferred upon the farmer 

 by science and scientific investigations. 



Whenever clover or alfalfa is fed it requires at least half of 

 the concentrates to be rich in carbohydrates. Corn and barley 

 contain a high percentage of carbohydrates and are comparatively 

 low in protein. We take four pounds of the corn chop, for I said 

 we needed from seven to eight pounds of concentrates. In 'the 

 four pounds of corn chop there is 3.6 pounds of dry matter, con- 

 taining .32 pounds of digestible protein, 2.67 pounds of digestible 

 carbohydrates and .17 pounds of fat. 



Corn chop is a heavy feed, and since a ration for a cow should 

 be made bulky, a rather light feed ought to be added. I have as- 

 sumed that bran is worth $16.00 per ton, gluten feed $25.00, and 

 oil meal $30.00. In order to determine the total amount of nu- 

 trients that is already in the feeds which have been chosen, it is 

 well to put them in table form and the formula so far is as follows : 



This supplies enough nutrients for a cow weighing 1,000 

 pounds, and giving 15 pounds of 4 per cent milk, but not enough 

 for an animal producing 25 pounds of 4 per cent milk. The cow 

 may for a time produce even more than 25 pounds of milk on this 

 amount of feed, but she will draw on her system for extra nutrients 

 and will, in time, decrease abnormally fast in milk flow. 



To make this ration complete for the cow in question, we need 

 about a half of a pound more protein, and a little more than a 



