216 ELEMENTS OF AGRICULTURE 



the ration. The kinds of food that make up the ration 

 are determined according to the judgment of the person 

 doing the feeding. Observation and experience are the. 

 best guides for selecting the proper foods, and even' 

 stock grower should, for his own satisfaction, try all 

 the different stock foods within his reach. By keeping 

 a record of "each, he can determine which are best for 

 his purpose. It is a bad plan to depend on only two or 

 three foods; all animals like a variety of food, and if 

 fed the same thing day after day they in time tire of it 

 and lose their appetite. 



209. Cost of Foods. — Foods costing the. most money 

 are not always the best, nor are the foods costing the 

 least money always the cheapest. The author had 

 occasion a few years ago to make analyses of many 

 kinds of stock foods, and the results of a few of these 

 analyses may serve as examples : 



From a certain town a sample of food known as 



" 's Food for Stock and Poultry" was obtained. 



An analysis showed that this food contained in every 

 hundred pounds, approximately, 16 pounds of protein, 

 7| pounds of fat and GO pounds of carbohydrates. An 

 examination showed that the food consisted of wheat 

 bran and corn-meal, with the addition of a little cotton- 

 seed-meal. To the food had been added a strong-smell- 

 ing powder called fenugreek, which is of no value either 

 as a food or medicine. This stock food sold at 6 cents 

 a pound or $120 a ton. From the same town, another 

 sample of stock food, known as a mixed cattle food, was 

 obtained. This food was also made up of wheat bran, 

 corn-meal, and cottonseed-meal, but contained no fenu- 



