212 ELEMENTS OF AGRICULTURE 



Digestible Nutrients. 



Dry Carbo- 



Matter. Protein. Fat. hydrates. 



30 pounds of ensilage 6.27 .27 .21 3.39 



5 pounds of bran 4.40 .61 .13 1.96 



8 pounds of pea hay 7.14 .86 .08 3.12 



5 pounds of mixed hay.... ^35 .30 .06 2.05 



Compounded ration 22.16 2.04 .48 10.52 



Required ration 22.40 2.00 .40 9.60 



Nutritive ratio in compounded ration, 1 to 5.7; required 

 ratio, 1 to 5.3. 



It is not necessary that the calculated ration should 

 agree exactly with the standard. The agreement be- 

 tween the standard and the two examples given is 

 close enough for all practical purposes. The standards 

 in Table VIII are intended merely as guides in mixing 

 rations, not as fixed rules by which we must work. In 

 calculating rations, find the amounts of digestible 

 nutrients in the principal food to be used, and try 

 combining with these figures those for varying amounts 

 of the other foods till a ration is obtained giving a 

 nutritive ratio as near as possible to the standard. It 

 is not necessary to use fractions of pounds in weighing 

 the different foods. 



204. Weighing the Different Foods in the Ration. — 

 It would of course require, far too much labor to weigh 

 out the' different foods each time an animal is fed, and 

 such care is not necessary. Grains, meals, bran, and 

 other similar -foods may be measured, and the weight 

 of a given measure determined. Ensilage may also be 

 measured, and so may root crops. For hay and other 

 fodders the weights of the, fodder held on a certain 



