242 Elementary Principles of Agriculture 



age is desirable to give bulk to the ration. Straw is an 

 excellent roughage, yet if fed on straw alone, an animal 

 would be unable to eat enough to secure the needed 

 nutrients. If fed on concentrates entirely, the digestive 

 juice could not act on all parts sufficiently and disorder 

 would follow. Water and fiber give bulk to feeds. 

 Ruminating animals require about two-thirds of their 

 feed to be in the form of roughage. For horses, about 

 one-half should be in the form of roughage. 



340. The Food Should Be Palatable. The food supplied 

 should be relished. A ration may be perfectly balanced 

 so far as its nutrients are concerned, and yet if it is not 

 palatable, good results may not be secured. One way 

 of making foods palatable is to give a change change 

 in hay or in concentrates. In changing from one kind 

 of feed to another, however, the change should be made 

 gradually. Abrupt changes in feed are likely to throw 

 highly fed animals "off feed." Animals relish variety 

 at the dinner-table just as we do. The good effect of 

 green feeds in winter time is probably due in part to 

 this fact. Green feeds through the winter may be easily 

 supplied in nearly all parts of the South by sowing fall 

 oats or wheat. Green feeds aid the digestion of other 

 feeds. 



341. Importance of Salt for Stock. Every good 

 farmer knows that his stock needs salt, and takes pains 

 to supply them. All classes of farm animals should 

 have salt where they can get it every day. Almost 

 every animal will take salt every day. Either fine 

 or rock-salt may be used, and, to prevent waste from 

 rains, it should, if possible, be under a shed. Ruminating 

 animals (sheep and cattle) need salt more regularly 

 and abundantly than horses. Dairy cows should always 



