316 DOMESTIC ANIMALS, DAIRYING, ETC. 



the quantity of milk obtained from the same cows when fed on a 

 balanced ration consisting of two pounds corn meal ; two pounds of 

 cottonseed meal; and two pounds of gluten meal together with all 

 the timothy hay they would eat. (Maine State College Annual Re- 

 port 1893, page 81.) Both rations supplied practically the same 

 quantity of digestible nutrients, but the proportion of protein was 

 nearly twice as much in the mixed grain ration as in the corn meal 

 ration. The results showed that during the time the cows were fed 

 the balanced ration, they produced from one-fifth to nearly one- 

 third more milk than when they were fed on the unbalanced ration, 

 and that the yield of milk solids was from 30 per cent to 40 per 

 cent greater. (Univ. Mo. Circ. Inf. 11.) 



Corn a Carbonaceous Food. Notwithstanding the fact that 

 corn is the best single stock food known and that thousands of ani- 

 mals are successfully wintered or fattened each year on an exclusive 

 ration of corn and corn stover or some similar roughage, it is true 

 that it is by no means a perfectly balanced or complete food. As 

 has been shown, corn contains a very large quantity of carbona- 

 ceous matter in proportion to the protein compounds. It does not 

 give a proper balance between the carbohydrates (which includes 

 starch, the sugars, fat and digestible fiber) and the protein. In 

 other words, practical experience and scientific experiments have 

 proven beyond doubt that by combining corn with some feed that 

 will increase the proportion of protein, a more efficient ration will 

 be the result; more rapid gains will be made by the animals to 

 which it is fed; more rapid and healthful growth will be made on 

 young animals; a larger flow of milk will be obtained from the 

 dairy cow; and the steer will carry a smoother finish and a finer 

 coat to market; and under ordinary circumstances, or if the mate- 

 rial for balancing the corn be selected judiciously and with a due 

 regard to the cost as compared with the increased efficiency obtained, 

 an increased profit will be returned. 



Preparation of Corn for Feeding. Upon this point Prof. Jor- 

 dan has summed up the results of the investigations and practical 

 experience as follows: Much labor and expense have been ex- 

 pended by farmers in giving to feeding stuffs special treatment, such 

 as wetting, steaming, cooking and fermenting, in order to secure a 

 supposed increase in nutritive value, an increase which must come 

 chiefly, if at all, from a more complete digestion. It is plainly no- 

 ticeable that these methods of feeding have lost in prevalence rather 

 than gained. Practice does not seem to have permanently ratified 

 them, and, so far as digestibility is concerned, this outcome is in 

 accordance with the results of scientific demonstration. The conclu- 

 sions of German experimenters have been that these special treat- 

 ments have no favorable influence, their effect being either imper- 

 ceptible or unfavorable. 



German and American experimenters unite in condemning the 

 cooking of foods already palatable, because this causes a marked de- 

 pression of the digestibility of the protein, with no compensating 

 advantages. Digestion trials with cooked or steamed hays, silage, 



