162 THE SCIENTIFIC FEEDING OF ANIMALS 



nizing unaltered plant tissues, while the iodin test is specific for starch 

 granules (blue color). 



Morever, feed utilization may be controlled by noting the "condition" 

 of an animal, its live weight, and the character of its "performance." 

 Feeding should be adjusted to "performance." A common error consists 

 in short rationing an animal (especially milk cows) during the cold 

 winter months. In such cases an animal may receive a sufficient, or 

 nearly sufficient, maintenance ration, but have nothing left for "produc- 

 tion." We do not get the full advantage of the animal's producing 

 power. This raises the cost of production as illustrated by the following 

 statement, in which the price of milk is figured at 18 pfennigs per kilo- 

 gram (about 4.5 cents per quart) and the starch value, including the 

 albumen, is estimated at the same figure (18 pf. per kg. or 4.5 cents). ^ 



Furthermore, in the feeding of milk cows special attention should be 

 given to the proper proportioning of proteids in the feed. Since large 

 amounts of protein are excreted with the milk, the feed should be rela- 

 tively rich in this nutrient. It follows, therefore, that in recent times 

 highly nitrogenous oil-cake is preferred to rape and palm-cake, crushed 

 grain, molasses, bran, etc. If the principle of feeding according to prod- 

 uct yielded were strictly carried out the ration of each individual animal 

 should be accurately weighed and thp amount fed adjusted in proportion 

 to the live weight of the animal and its actual yield of milk. But seri- 

 ous objections, or difficulties of an economic character, may be raised 

 against this practice. These individual weighings require much extra 

 labor, and special feeding arrangements are necessary to insure that 

 each animal receives the ration intended for it, and no more (see article 

 on mangers and feeding racks in the author's work on hygiene). 



Where individual feeding is impracticable, so-called group feeding 

 may be resorted to. This consists of dividing the herd into a number 

 of groups the individuals of which have similar requirements. The 

 number of groups formed would vary with the size of the herd and with 

 the help available. Ordinarily from three to eight such groups answer 



STranslator's Note: Since the idea intended to be conveyed is just as vividly illustrated with 

 metric weights and German money denominations, the translator transcribed the original copy 

 without any changes. 



