244 AGRICULTURE 



supply all the needs of their systems. Fat and carbohydrates are 

 needed to supply heat and force, fat and milk; protein to form 

 flesh, to build up waste tissue and to form new. 



Third: The food must have a certain bulk adapted to the size 

 of the animal's stomach and the length of the intestines. Rumi- 

 nants, such as the cow and sheep, need two thirds bulky food, such 

 as hay and straw ; horses need half fodder and half grain ; pigs and 

 poultry need more than half concentrated food. 



Fourth: Animals, like people, need variety of food. Change of 

 rations improves appetite and digestion. Decided change in kind 

 or amount of food should be made gradually, not abruptly. 



Fifth: Animals should be fed at regular hours. Like human 

 beings, they thrive better when their meals are given at proper 

 fixed times. 



Raising Feed. As a rule, a farmer should raise most or all of 

 his own fodders and feeds. He should choose productive and 

 nourishing ones which are suited to his soil and climate and which 

 supply a balanced ration. 



Pasturing and Soiling. Where land is cheap and farmers prac- 

 tice the extensive system, trying to cultivate as many acres as 

 possible, it is usual to graze stock. This is the common method in 

 the South, where, with a little attention, fields and pastures furnish 

 stock a bountiful living three hundred out of three hundred and 

 sixty-five days in the year. It is also the rule on the great western 

 ranges, rich in nutritious native grasses. 



Where land values are high, farmers practice the intensive sys- 

 tem, trying to raise as large crops as possible on each acre. There, 

 soiling is preferred, that is, animals are kept in stables or yards 

 and fed cut forage. 



One acre in soiling crops has as much feeding value as four acres 

 in pasture. A fifteen-acre dairy farm in Pennsylvania by the soil- 



