330 MASS. EXPERIMENT STATION BULLETIN 181. 



The Stevens' "44" Dairy Ration is one of the numerous proprietary- 

 dairy rations offered in Massachusetts markets. It is claimed to be a 

 mixture of a great variety of the most desirable grains and by-products. 



It had 8.94 per cent, water, and in dry matter 4.17 per cent, ash, 

 26.95 per cent, protein, 12.88 per cent, fiber, 49.56 per cent, extract matter 

 and 6.44 per cent. fat. Its high fiber content indicated the presence of 

 some unsatisfactory material, and this was confirmed by the digestion test. 



The mixture proved to be fairly well digested, but not equal in total 

 digestibility to mixtures of bran, cottonseed meal, gluten feed and corn 

 or hominy meal. The fiber digestibility was considerably below that 

 secured for hay, whUe the extract matter was below what one would 

 expect in high-grade material. The protein, on the other hand, was 

 quite well digested. 



Digestibility of Svdav Grass. 



This grass {Andwpoqon sorghum var.) was introduced into the United 

 States in 1909, and has been tried at this station for a number of years. 

 A full report on its merits will be given elsewhere. The green material 

 contained from 76.5 to 80.42 per cent, of ^\ater when cut, and the hay 

 averaged 14.47 per cent, of water. On the basis of dry matter the two 

 samples of green material averaged 6.84 per cent, ash, 13 per cent, crude 

 protein, 29.10 per cent, fiber, 47.13 per cent, extract matter and 3.93 per 

 cent. fat. The hay averaged in drj- matter 8.93 per cent, ash, 13.85 

 per cent, crude protein, 33.85 per cent, fiber, 41.80 per cent, extract 

 matter and 1.53 per cent. fat. The green material was fed with English 

 hay, and the ration had a nutritive ratio of 1:8.3. The Sudan hay in 

 three out of four experiments was fed exclusively, and had a nutritive 

 ratio of 1 :5.7. 



Summary of Coefficients of Sudan Grass. 



