1887.] PUBLIC DOCUMENT — No. 33. 37 



good corn ensilage, which has a nutritive ratio of from 1 to 

 10 to 1 to 12, needs a liberal addition of substances like oil- 

 cakes, wheat bran, gluten meal, etc., which have a nutritive 

 ratio of 1 to from 2.5 to 4, to secure its full value as an 

 ingredient of a daily diet in the dairy ; or that good hay 

 shows less the beneficial effects of an addition of these valua- 

 ble waste products than that of an inferior quality. The 

 nutritive ratio of hay may vary from 1 to 5.5 to from 1 to 

 9 or more. 



The value of an article of fodder may be stated from two 

 different standpoints, — that is, with reference to its cost in 

 the local market, and with reference to its nutritive feeding 

 value. The market price may be expressed by a definite 

 sum for each locality ; it depends on demand and supply 

 in the market, and it is beyond the control of the indi- 

 vidual farmer. The nutritive value, or commonly called 

 food value, of the article cannot be expressed by a definite 

 sum ; it varies with a more or less judicious application, and 

 depends also, to a considerable degree, on its adaptation 

 under varying circumstances. To secure the most satis- 

 factory returns from feeding our home-raised fodder crops 

 is as important a question as that of raising them in an 

 economical manner. The great progress which has been 

 qpado during the past ten or twelve years in regard to the 

 proper mode of feeding plants ought to serve as an encour- 

 agement to undertake the task of inquiring more systemati- 

 cally into the proper mode of feeding our farm live-stock in 

 the most profitable way. 



