110 THE STOCKFEEDER'S COMPANION 



XVII. POOD STANDARDS. 



The chief art in making up rations is to supply the 

 animal with a balanced ration which is digestible, 

 palatable, and sufficiently laxative. 



Generally speaking, the basal part of the ration 

 for horses, cattle, and sheep consists of home-grown 

 bulky fodders (grass, hay, and straw) and roots. 

 These are nearly all poor in albuminoids, fat, and 

 carbohydrates. At the same time the fodder crops 

 are very high in fibre, hence the need to enrich the 

 ration for production purposes (beef, mutton, bacon, 

 milk, work) by adding concentrated foods which are 

 rich in albuminoids, fat, and carbohydrates, but 

 usually low in fibre. 



(1) The Approximate Method. 



The concentrated part of ration is the chief con- 

 sideration in this method. 



Horses. A full-grown horse at work, receiving a 

 basal ration of, say, ij stones hay and 4 to 7 Ibs. roots 

 per day, should have the following conditions fulfilled 

 in the concentrated part of ration : 



1. It should contain 12 to 16 per cent, albuminoids. 



2. It should contain 4 to 5 per cent. fat. 



3. It should not, as a rule, contain over 8 per cent. 



fibre. 



4. The quantity to feed should be approximately 



I Ib. per 100 Ibs. live weight. 



To test a given ration, multiply the percentages of 

 albuminoids, fat, and fibre by the number of pounds of 

 each food in the ration, and divide the total percentages 

 of each of the nutrients by the total number of pounds 

 of concentrated food in the daily ration. 



