CHAPTER XII 

 THE COST OF THE RATION 



The Practical Question. Secondary only in im- 

 portance to a proper balance of the feeds is the cost 

 ''of the ration. It is much to have a ration approxi- 

 mate the theoretical standard, since it is necessary 

 to get the digestible nutrients in reasonable propor- 

 tion in order to obtain success in the feed lot or the 

 dairy stable. A dairy cow, if given an insufficient 

 amount of protein, will show the shortage sooner 

 or later in her milk yield ; and the beef steer, while 

 he may make good gains by laying on fat, will lack 

 quality at the block and will show gains, likely, at 

 considerable cost. In both instances if some of the 

 non-nitrogenous feeding stuffs were to be exchanged 

 for one or more of a more protein nature, the pro- 

 ductive ends might be more perceptible and the 

 units of gain might be more cheaply acquired. 



It is always important to use as the basis of every 

 farm ration just as much of the farm-raised feeds as 

 is possible. In the first place farm animals provide 

 a market right at home, and at the same time they 

 are generous to the farm because of the manure they 

 return to the soil. The less feed that is purchased 

 the less the labor required to get concentrated grains 

 from the distributing centers. Nevertheless, it is 

 generally profitable to use some of the mill concen- 

 trates for purposes of balancing the ration and to 



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