366 THE HORSE 



It is permissible, perhaps, to depart from the amounts given in the 

 first column under the head of "Dry Matter," more than in any 

 other way. The digestive apparatus of farm animals is elastic and 

 accommodates itself quite readily to the varying bulk of its food. 

 In the last column is given the nutritive ratio, which should, per- 

 haps, be adhered to with some care, trusting to the appetite of the 

 animal (which will be controlled largely by its power of digesting 

 and producing) to indicate the amount of nutrients required. As 

 a rule the most rapid fattening or growth and abundant produc- 

 tion are most economical, and these results are best secured by 

 feeding an abundant and well-balanced ration (well up to the limit 

 of the animal's appetite) while the dry matter is not permitted 

 to rise much above the standard. 



Table II gives a list of the feeding stuffs in most common use 

 in New York state. Column one is headed "dry matter"; column 

 two, "digestible protein"; column three, digestible carbohydrates 

 -f(fatX2/i)"; column four, "total" (which is the sum of two and 

 three); column five, "nutritive ratio." In each of these columns 

 are given the computations of the various food stuffs from one 

 pound up to the amount that is likely to be used in compounding 

 any ration. In the case of the coarse fodders, to save space, the 

 increase is made by more than one pound at a time, but inter- 

 mediate amounts can readily be obtained from the table if desired. 

 In no case are the calculations for ten pounds of a feeding stuff 

 given, as these can be obtained at once from tho figures for one 

 pound, by simply moving the decimal point one place to the right. 



These computations are based upon the table of "Average 

 Digestible Nutrients in American Feeding Stuffs" given in Prof. 

 W. A. Henry's recent book, "Feeds and Feeding." The aim has 

 been to carry the computations involved in formulating rations as 

 near completion as possible, and to present the figures in such 

 simple form that no feeder will have difficulty in comparing the 

 ration he is feeding with the standards and correcting it, if neces- 

 sary, to conform thereto. 



