FEEDING STANDARDS— CALCULATING RATIONS 89 



mals, milch cows, and horses at hard work rations made up, for the 

 most part at least, of well-liked feeds. Some concentrates, such as malt 

 sprouts and dried distillers' grains, which may not be relished when 

 fed alone, are entirely satisfactory if given in mixture with other bet- 

 ter-liked feeds. Similarly, such roughages as straw and marsh hay, 

 which are of low palatability, may be given in limited amount even to 



Fig. 28. — An Excellent and Economical Ration 



This ration of 30 lbs. corn silage, 10 lbs. rod clover hay, 3 lbs. corn meal, 3 

 lbs. wheat bran, and 1 lb. cottonseed meal furnishes no more n\itrients, yet it is 

 much superior to the two previous ones, for the feeds are all palatable and suit- 

 able for dairy cows, and the silage provides succulence. Cost 20 cents, nearly one- 

 fourth less than the first ration. (From Humphrey, Wisconsin Station.) 



animals fed for production, a practice widely followed by European 

 farmers. While the largest gains are made on rations composed en- 

 tirely of exceedingly palatable feeds, it should be remembered that one 

 of the chief functions of our domestic animals is to consume and con- 

 vert into useful products materials which would otherwise be wasted. 



Variety of feeds. — Skilled feeders usually believe that a ration con- 

 taining several feeds will give better results than when a smaller num- 

 ber are employed, even tho the latter ration supplies the proper amount 

 of protein, carbohydrates, aiid fat. From the discussions in the pre- 

 ceding chapters, in which it has been pointed out that the protein fur- 

 nished by certain feeds is unbalanced in composition, it is evident that 

 a larger variety of feeds may, by the law of chance, furnish a better 

 balanced mixture of proteins than one or two feeds alone. It woi,ild 

 therefore seem wise, in choosing supplements for a ration low in pro- 

 tein, to select those which will supply protein from different sources. 

 For example, it is injudicious, if other supplements are equally avail- 

 able, to use corn by-products, such as corn gluten feed or gluten meal, 

 in balancing the ration of pigs otherwise fed corn only. 



With dairy cows, espeeiallj^ in the case of high-producing animals 

 being forced on official test, skilled feeders place emphasis on having 



