708 NUTRITION OF FARM ANIMALS 



Doubtless individual weighings at intervals, as already sug- 

 gested, would be useful as a control on the accuracy of the 

 distribution. 



The weighing of coarse fodder is usually a more difficult 

 problem on account of- its bulk. When, however, silage or cut 

 fodder is handled in trucks, the matter is still comparatively 

 simple. Long fodder, on the contrary, is not readily weighed. 

 Nevertheless, even here an occasional weighing, if practicable, 

 as a control upon the feeding, is very desirable. 



In all these and similar matters common sense is necessary. 

 The computed ration expresses the best estimate that can be 

 made of the actual average requirements, but it is at best more 

 or less of an approximation. It would be foolish, therefore, to 

 seek extreme exactness in realizing it or to go to more expense 

 in the weighing and apportioning of the feed than the saving in 

 the latter would amount to. The scale upon which the feeding 

 is conducted will play an important part. Where scores or 

 hundreds of animals are being fed, an exactness may profitably 

 be sought which would be absurd in the case of two or three 

 animals. Finally, it should be remembered that these com- 

 puted rations are guides and not recipes. They may aid the 

 feeder in wisely using the resources at his command, but they 

 cannot take the place of experience and good judgment. 



