FEEDING CALVES 39 



in productive ability thereby. Thus, to those farmers who have 

 only a limited supply of milk to feed their calves we recommend 

 the use of the calf meal method. 



68. Proprietary calf meals. — There are a number of proprie- 

 tary mixtures on the market under the name of calf meals which 

 are designed to be fed as a gruel in place of milk. We have tried 

 out several of these products and in general found them satisfac- 

 tory, though of course some have given better results than others. 

 Since we have not tried them all and since the formulas of those 

 we have used may have changed, it is not fair to the manufacturers 

 that we select among them here. We can, however, mention 

 certain things which will aid the farmer in choosing among 

 them. 



We believe a good calf meal should have 20 to 25 per cent of 

 protein and not over 5 per cent of crude fiber. It should contain 

 no ingredient which experience has taught to be unsuitable for 

 feeding young animals. Our experience indicates that compounds 

 of lime and phosphorus are desirable. The mixture should be 

 finely ground and should not settle too rapidly when placed in 

 water. There seems to be an opinion among some farmers that 

 the more ingredients a calf meal has the better it must be. Unusual 

 ingredients also make an appeal to some who think that the 

 manufacturer has discovered something new which is specially 

 suited for the purpose. To others a high price seems to indicate a 

 specially valuable product. None of these things necessarily indi- 

 cate a good calf meal. 



It is true, however, that the ingredients of a satisfactory calf 

 meal must be more specially selected than those of the dairy 

 ration. A big reason for this is that materials of low fiber content 

 are essential. This also means a more expensive mixture. How- 

 ever, it has been our observation that in general the calf meals on 

 the market are much too high in price in view of the ingredients 

 they contain. The margin between the cost of the ingredients and 

 the finished product is much greater for them than for proprietary 

 dairy feeds. This situation indicates the desirability of a simple 

 formula which can be mixed at home. Here one meets the diffi- 



