106 THE AMERICAN FARMER. 



It is well understood that cattle or any other stock will gain more rapidly on a variety of 

 food, than when confined to a few kinds only, and the feeder must use skill and judgment in 

 making a proper allowance for a difference in the quality of different varieties. Another 

 important point in the care of cattle, and one which many farmers are slow to learn, is the 

 variation of the amount of food according to the temperature. In very cold weather, the 

 first demand made upon the food consumed by the animal is to maintain animal heat; if there 

 is a surplus beyond this, it goes to build up the tissues of the body and store up fat. If 

 therefore, only a sufficient supply of food is given to maintain a proper degree of animal heat, 

 and not enough to maintain the general waste of the system beside, there must be a falling 

 away in flesh as a natural result. 



Where cattle have a free range of pasturage, or where soiling is practiced, there will be no 

 difficulty with digestion, and there will be a good condition, as far as the bowels are con 

 cerned; when confined in stables, with little or no exercise, and fed mainly on dry food, as 

 is frequently the case in the winter management of stock, or when suddenly changing from 

 grass to hay, it frequently happens that a very different condition will exist, which, if neg 

 lected, may lead to serious evil. In such cases, a judicious use of bran, corn meal, ground 

 oats, or oil cake, will counteract the constipating tendency. Roots, such as turnips, potatoes, 

 etc., given in sufficient quantities will also be valuable under such conditions. Salt is like 

 wise frequently used with good effect, permitting the animal to drink freely afterwards; the 

 presence of a large quantity of water in the bowels having a similar effect to an injection of 

 water. 



Rations for Farm Animals. The following table of feeding standards is given 

 by Dr. &quot;Wolff of the Agricultural Academy at Hohenheim, based upon the careful experi 

 ments made at the German Experiment Stations in feeding, and the analyses of different 

 kinds of food, embracing a period of twenty-five years. Although it is not by any means 

 claimed that they are not subject to improvement, yet they will serve as a guide to the 

 farmer in determining the approximate amount and value of food rations for farm stock 

 under different conditions and circumstances. 



The table gives the quantities and proportions of the digestible food elements which are 

 to be given in the daily rations of farm animals in order to secure the most satisfactory 

 results. The term &quot;total organic substances,&quot; as used in the table, means the organic matter 

 of feed considered free from water and ash; and the difference between total organic sub 

 stances and &quot;total nutritive substances,&quot; expresses the quantity of indigestible or undigested 

 portion of the ration. The column of the table headed &quot;nutritive ratio,&quot; gives the proportion 

 of digestible albuminoids to digestible carbohydrates, including fat. 



With regard to the food elements of the following table, a leading agricultural authority 

 says.: 



&quot; THE ALBUMINOIDS, which are represented in animal food by the casein or curd of milk, 

 the white of egg and lean meat, and in vegetable food by the gluten of wheat (wheat gum), 

 and other substances quite similar to milk, casein and egg-albumin, have a different physio 

 logical significance from the carbohydrates, which are fiber or cellulose, starch, the sugars, 

 the gums, and similarly constituted matters. The albuminoids may easily be made over by 

 the animal into its own substance, i. e., into muscles, tendons, and the various working tissues 

 and membranes which are necessary parts of the animal machine, because they are the same 

 kind of materials, and, chemically speaking, of the same composition. 



THE CARBOHYDRATES, on the other hand, probably cannot serve at all for building up the 

 muscles and other parts of the growing animal, and cannot restore the waste and wear of 

 those parts of mature animals, because they are of a very different nature. They contain no 

 nitrogen, an element which enters into all the animal tissues (albuminoids) to the extent of 

 some fifteen per cent, of their dry matter. 



