STUDYING FEEDING VALUES 85 



green vegetable feed and the insects which the birds 

 could usually find. Besides, they needed an egg ration 

 only during a very small portion of the year, before the 

 grasping hand of man " improved " them for his own 

 ends. 



The matter of green feeds is so important that it must 

 have a chapter to itself. When poultrymen speak of 

 "balance" in a ration, they are very likely to mean 

 only the proper proportions between the amounts of 

 protein and carbohydrates present. But in balancing 

 for perfect health, the pasturage becomes one of the 

 most important items. 



A few years ago, all the advanced poultrymen were 

 splitting hairs over the proper balance of the various 

 elements in all the feeds used, with the emphasis, as 

 stated above, on the two chief elements as to quantity. 

 This phase passed, and we now hear far less about it. 

 But it remains true that a rough balance between the 

 muscle makers, the fats, the true energy makers and, in 

 the case of partly herbivorous animals, the green feed, 

 must always be maintained. The feeder needs to have 

 in mind a general idea of the proportions of each in any 

 ration which he may " throw together " at any time. 

 These proportions must be such, first, as to keep the 

 animal in rugged health ; second, they must also be such 

 as will render the stock productive to the highest degree 

 that can be reached with safety to the producing animal. 



The United States Department of Agriculture exists 

 only for the purpose of making life more tolerable and 

 work easier and more productive for all the people whom 

 it reaches. It has analyzed practically all table foods 

 for the good of the households, and every common grain 



