CLOVER CUI/TURE. lOt 



up to blood heat and then the greater portion of the carbohy- 

 drate's is wasted. This explains why cattle fed on foods of this 

 kind exclusively wear themselves out in the winter by trying 

 to digest a great deal more than the system can assimilate. 

 This waste may to a great extent be avoided by stacking the 

 straw in a clover field where the aftermath has been allowed to 

 stand, and allowing cattle free access to both. Where this is 

 not practicable, the waste can be avoided by feeding clovei 

 and straw alternately, or by cutting and mixing both and 

 making a complete ration by the use of bran or oil meal. 



For example, clover hay has a ratio of 1 15. 6. (We are 

 speaking now of clover hay in its best condition cut when the 

 heads are not more than one-third brown and properly cured. 

 The feeder usually knows how far his hay varies from this 

 standard whether by late cutting or defective curing. It 

 should be noticed in either case that the departure from the 

 standard will be in the loss of the albuminoid or protein ele- 

 ments and therefore the less efficiently will it balance up a 

 corn ration.) The farmer has steers on feed, and wishes to 

 get the best results from his corn. This has a ratio of 1:9.3, 

 and should be brought down to a ratio of 1:5.5 or 1:6.5. He 

 can do this by feeding oil meal, shorts or bran, but he can 

 narrow this broad ration of corn to some extent by feeding 

 clover hay for roughness. How far he can narrow the ration 

 will depend on how much clover hay he can induce his cattle 

 to eat in the uncut state, and this no one can determine but 

 himself. 



When labor becomes cheaper in the West and land audits 

 products dearer, there will be a much greater opportunity than 

 now to use clover in the feeding ration. Clover hay will then 

 be largely cut and mixed with ground food and there is 

 scarcely any limit to the methods in which it can be used in 

 this way. It will enter largely into the ration for dairy cows 

 in connection with other forage and the various cereals. Al- 

 though 'it is impossible to make an ideal milk ration by add- 

 ing clover hay to the corn and corn fodder upon which so 

 many cows are now fed, yet every pound of clover that is add- 

 ed to these foods improves the ration. The ideal balance for 

 milk should be one pound of albuminoids to each five and 

 four-tenths pounds of carbohydrates. Good clover hay as 

 usually cut has a ratio of 1:5. 6, and is of itself substantially in 

 the right proportion, but the corn is i :Q. 3 and the corn stalks 

 1:14.7. If the last two were fed in equal weights the ratio 

 would be 1:13; if the three feed stuffs were fed in equal 



