180 DOMESTIC ANIMALS, DAIRYING, ETC. 



and sudden changes and what may be true to-day might be incor- 

 rect a week or month hence. 



In selecting concentrates, the purpose for which they are needed 

 as well as their cost, should be kept steadily in mind. Experiments 

 have clearly demonstrated that the dairy cow of 800 to 1,000 pounds 

 live weight, yielding 10 to 14 quarts of milk daily, needs from 14 

 to 16 pounds of actual digestible matter a day, and of this quantity, 

 2 to 2M> pounds should be protein, the balance being carbohydrate or 

 starchy material. Now the farm produces principally one-sided or 

 starchy feeds, such as hay, roots and corn. A combination of hay, 

 silage and corn meal will furnish all the digestible matter that is 

 needed in the daily ration, but the combination will be lacking in 

 protein. It is advisable and necessary therefore, in order to produce 

 milk to the best advantage, to purchase feeds rich in protein to make 

 up the deficiency. A grain ration made up of protein feeds will also 

 produce manure 10 to 15 per cent more valuable than one composed 

 of hay, silage and corn meal. 



It is poor economy for the farmer to purchase starchy feeds, 

 since he can produce them more economically. Milk producers, on 

 the other hand, who buy all of their grain will find it advisable to 

 have one-third of their ration consist of corn or hominy meals in 

 order to furnish the necessary digestible matter. 



Experience and experiments have taught the writer that the 

 most economical and satisfactory concentrates to make up the pro- 

 tein deficiency are cottonseed meal, gluten meal and gluten feed, 

 dried distillers' grains, flour middlings, dried brewers' grains and 

 malt sprouts. Linseed is also satisfactory and at present economical. 

 Wheat bran, because of the relatively small amount of protein it con- 

 tains is an expensive protein feed. It is, however, valuable as a di- 

 luter for the more concentrated articles, and has a satisfactory effect 

 on the bowels. It is hardly the part of economy to have the grain 

 ration consist of over one-third bran, and many feeders will endeavor 

 to get along without it by using corn silage or distillers' grains as 

 a diluter. If starchy feeds are needed purchase corn, hominy or 

 barley meals. In regard to the so-called mixed feed adulterated with 

 corn cobs, the various oat offals containing large quantities of oat 

 hulls, and other inferior feeds, the only advice that can be given is, 

 do not be tempted to purchase them. 



Talk About Grain Mixtures. Many farmers are prone to esti- 

 mate the value of the different grains in quarts rather than in 

 pounds. Thus a quart of bran, weighing a trifle more than one-half 

 pound, is compared in feeding value with a quart of cottonseed meal 

 weighing 1.4 pounds and the feeding effect noted on this basis. That 

 this is an unfair method of comparison is self-evident. Feed stuffs 

 should always be compared pound for pound, and in making up a 

 grain mixture, a definite number of pounds of one feed should be 

 mixed with a definite weight of another. The weight of a quart of 

 the mixture can be ascertained, and for practical purposes a certain 

 number of quarts equivalent to a definite number of pounds may 

 then be fed daily. 



