134 THE BOOK OF ALFALFA 



It is seen that the alfalfa yielded nearly twice as many 

 pounds of dry matter as the corn, with the digestible 

 nutrients far in the lead, and the protein of the alfalfa 

 was three times that of the corn. 



THE BAIjANCED RATION 



No feeder can learn to use alfalfa, or in fact any for- 

 age or grain, in the most economical way until he under- 

 stands somewhat the compounding of a balanced ration. 

 All foodstuffs for either man or beast are, as already 

 stated, made up of three classes of substances — namely, 

 protein or proteids, carbohydrates and fats. The animal's 

 digestive and assimilative organs are so constructed that 

 it cannot use these three classes of substances interchange- 

 ably ; in other words, an animal fed wholly upon any one 

 of these three would be in process of gradual starvation. 

 Given in the proportions needed to best supply the vital 

 organs of the body, these substances become the suste- 

 nance for animal life and growth. The protein builds up 

 the brain, nerves, muscles and other tissues in which the 

 life force is active, and without protein there would be 

 no life. 



To balance a ration for domestic animals is to so 

 adjust the quantity of digestible proteids, fats and carbo- 

 hydrates it contains that the animal economy may use 

 each without waste. The balanced ration means an eco- 

 nomical ration, allowing the digestive organs to work at 

 their highest efficiency; an unbalanced ration is one in 

 which one of the three classes of food substances is in 

 excess, or is deficient. Fed such a ration, the animal 

 retaliates upon its owner by failure to digest the excess, 



