RATIONS AND METHODS OF FEEDING 219 



introduces. On the whole, the dry mash has not the advantage as 

 a labor saver claimed by those who exploit 1 it, though there are 

 features of its use which often give it a very distinct advantage. 2 

 These are : 



1. Convenience. Though it deteriorates with age, a dry mash 

 does not spoil so quickly as moist mashes do. Hence it may be fed 

 in hoppers always accessible to the birds, and the supply may be 

 replenished at any convenient time, at intervals of a few days, a 

 week, or even longer, according to the capacity of the hopper and 

 the size of the flock. 



2. Full feeding. In the hands of an inexpert feeder a dry mash 

 of the right composition, kept constantly before the birds, will 

 almost invariably give better results than a wet mash, provided 

 the same hard grains are given with the dry as would be given 

 with the wet mash. If (as is often the case) an effort is made to 

 compel the birds to consume certain considerable quantities of the 

 dry-mash mixture by reducing the grain until they will eat the de- 

 sired quantity of the dry mash, the results are likely to be disap- 

 pointing, for the birds do not like dry mashes well enough to eat 

 them freely, and are likely to be underfed. With a sufficient supply 

 of hard grain the dry mash becomes a supplementary feed, not 



1 It is doubtful whether dry-mash feeding would have become prominent among 

 poultry methods but for the advertising of trade mixtures represented as special 

 balanced rations for various purposes. For several years after dry mashes began 

 to be exploited in the poultry press, it was noticeable that those advocating and 

 reporting remarkable results by their use were, almost without exception, directly 

 or indirectly interested in the sale either of dry mashes or of hoppers to contain 

 them, and this method is still very much dependent on the advertising of interested 

 parties for the attention that it gets. The fact does not condemn the method, but 

 it must be considered in estimating its actual value and status. Usually the com- 

 plete " balanced ration " is procured by buying a mixture of hard grains from the 

 same concern. Many of these feeds make good rations, but as many advertisers 

 labor, with some measure of success, to convince customers that they must have 

 these preparations and none other, it not infrequently happens that a poultry 

 keeper short of a supply of his favorite commercial ration puts his birds on short 

 allowance of it rather than take chances of spoiling the supposed exactly balanced 

 ration, the " formula " for which is the proprietor's " secret." 



2 In correspondence with a large number of poultry keepers using dry mashes, 

 I was surprised to find a large proportion of them not making use of the advan- 

 tages of the method. Many fed dry mash in limited quantities, giving it daily. 

 Many fed both wet and dry mashes, this practice actually making more labor than 

 when the dry mash was not used. 



