HOW TO BUY FEEDS 67 



will be saved by buying for cash for future delivery. Your feed 

 dealer will help in finding out the proper time to buy. But do not 

 leave it all to him. Know feeds and prices and form your own 

 judgment as to when and how to buy. 



113. Proprietary feeds. — Thus far we have been thinking of 

 the farmer who mixes his own ration. We know that a large num- 

 ber of farmers use proprietary feeds. It has been our observation 

 that the average dairyman can mix his own grain ration more 

 cheaply if he will take the trouble to do it. In so doing, he has the 

 opportunity of making it up to fit his home-grown feeds, and he is 

 surer of what he is getting than he is if he tries to choose from the 

 large number of proprietary feeds on the market which do not have 

 public formulas. 



According to law a proprietary feed must be sold under a 

 guaranteed analysis, and in most states the ingredients must be 

 stated. However, this tells the farmer nothing as to how much of 

 a given ingredient is present. In a proprietary feed listing six or 

 eight or more ingredients those the farmer wants most may or may 

 not be present in any considerable amount. This is why we say 

 that such a feed does not enable the farmer to get what he wants as 

 well as though he mixes his own ration. Fortunately manufacturers 

 are commencing to recognize this and there are now on the market 

 certain proprietary feeds with "open formulas" — that is, the 

 amount of each ingredient is stated. We believe that these are the 

 kind of proprietary feeds that should be bought when looking for 

 a ready-mixed feed. (123, 124, 125) 



114. Feeds with secret formulas. — If a proprietary feed of 

 unknown formula must be bought, the farmer should study the tag 

 on the bag before buying. Note the guarantee to see whether the 

 protein content is what is desired and that the fiber content is 

 not above 12 per cent. Study the list of ingredients. Certain 

 proprietary feeds contain materials which are so low grade that 

 the cow can make no use of them for milk production. Many feeds 

 contain ingredients which are about equal in value to hay and the 

 farmer cannot afford to buy such unless they are charged into the 

 feed at a price no higher than it would cost him to buy or raise hay 



