HOW TO FIGURE OUT RATIONS. 201 







The new ration is still rather light, both in total and 

 digestible food materials; for many cows it might prove 

 effective as it is, while for others it would doubtless be 

 improved by a further addition of some concentrated food 

 medium rich in protein, or if grain feeds are high, of more 

 hay or silage. The feeding rations are not intended to be 

 used as infallible standards that must be followed blindly, 

 nor could they be used as such. They are not only meant 

 to be approximate gauges by which the farmer may know 

 whether the ration which he is feeding is of about such 

 a composition and furnishes such amount of important 

 food materials are most likely to produce best results, 

 cost of feed and returns in products as well as condition 

 of animals being all considered. 



In constructing rations according to the above feeding 

 standard, several points must be considered besides the 

 chemical composition and the digestibility of the feeding 

 stuffs; the standard cannot be followed directly without 

 regard to bulk and other properties of the fodder; the 

 ration must not be too bulky, and still must contain a 

 sufficient quantity of roughage to keep up the rumination 

 of the animals, in case of cows and sheep, and to secure 

 a healthy condition of the animals generally. The local 

 market prices of cattle foods are of the greatest impor- 

 tance in determining which foods to buy; the conditions 

 in the different sections of our great continent differ so 

 greatly in this respect that no generalizations can be 

 made. Generally speaking, nitrogenous concentrated feeds 

 are the cheapest feeds in the south and in the east, and 

 flour-mill, brewery, and starch-factory -refuse feeds the 

 cheapest in the northwest. 



The tables given on pages 211 to 215 will be found of 

 great assistance in figuring out the nutrients in feed 

 rations; the tables have been reproduced from a bulletin 

 published by the Vermont Experiment Station, and are 

 based upon the latest compilations of analyses of feeding 

 stuffs. A few rations are given in the following as samples 

 of combinations of different kinds of feed with corn silage 

 that will produce good results with dairy cows. The 

 rations given on page 171 may also be studied to advan- 

 tage in making up feed rations with silage for dairy cows. 

 The Experiment Stations or other authorities publishing 

 the rations are given in all cases. 



