246 IOWA DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE. 



in this red material, because that is the part which is turning the food 

 into the production of milk. 



The black parts shows the carbohydrates. The carbohydrates are 

 simply the fat and heat producers. We have here in the yellow the 

 fat of thCi food and in the brown portion we have the part of the feed 

 stuffs not digestible, also the ash. This includes the ash and that part 

 not digestible. 



In this column we have the nutritive ration. Now this is another 

 column which you should study carefully. As I said before, the protein 

 is the part of the food which is mainly concerned in the production of 

 milk, so from a dairyman's standpoint it is impiortant. The nutritive 

 ration of corn is 1--7. Now think of it as this, that for every pound 

 of protein there is 9-7 of the black and yellow. That is what it means. 

 That for one pound in the corn, of protein there is 9.7 per cent of carbo- 

 hydrates' and fat. In oats there is 6.2 per cent in a pound. 



In the feeding of dairy cattle total results of experiments conducted 

 in this and different colleges, they have found they get the best results 

 when they feed one pound of this protein or red material to 51/^ to 6 of 

 the black and yellow. That is what we mean by balanced rations. One 

 pound protein for every six pounds of carbohydrates. Corn is too wid'^, 

 we will say. That is for one pound of protein there are over nine 

 pounds of the other things, over three pouiids too much, probably .four 

 pounds more of the black and yellow than there should be. 



Take in the case of oats — we have one pound of red to over six and 

 two tenths pounds of black and yellow. Oats are a much better feed 

 than corn for the production of milk and give much better results; but 

 corn is the staple feed 'in Iowa, and in the feeding of dairy cattle, or in 

 the feeding of beef cattle of any kind, or live stock, the ration must 

 be composed largely of corn in Iowa, simply because it is the feed grown 

 in this State. Because corn does not contain enough red material in 

 proportion to the black and yellow is no reason we should discard it. 

 We should balance it up. Simply where one stuff is lacking in one kind 

 of material we should add some feed stuff which has that material that 

 is lacking in the other, such as gluten feed and gluten meal to corn. Oil 

 meal is rich in red material; bran is rich in red material; peas are 

 rich- in red material, and a great many feed stuffs we have contain more 

 of this red material and should be added to the cbrn. 



Oats is a properly balanced food, but oats are too high as a general 

 thing. When oats are worth, say 20 to 22 cents a bushel they are 

 pretty expensive from a financial standpoint, but in the feeding of dairy 

 cattle we must take the cost of the food ration into consideration. 



In feeding stock we must first have the ration balanced; second, the 

 cheapest ration w^e possibly can get; and third, a ration the animals will 

 eat. When other feed stuffs are very high, oats are sometimes cheaper 

 at 25 cents a bushel than other times at 18 cents. It depends on the price 

 of other feed stuffs. 



Rye as a nutritive ration is 1 to 7. Rye can 'often be used, pro- 

 viding you use bran, oil meal, oats or some other food rich in protein 

 with it. The same of barley; barley is rather too wide. 



