these materials from the blood; and if the supply furnished in the food is 

 not enough to supply the demands of the body, and furnish materials for 

 milk-making, the tissues are robbed of their regular maintenance supply. 

 Under such circumstances cows not only lose their fat, but their muscles,, 

 etc., are gradually reduced in weight. The writer has seen cows that have 

 almost " milked themselves to death," because of the long established habit 

 of making milk instead of meat out of what they ate. The ideal dairy cow 

 is one that consumes large quantities of food and uses it all in making milk,, 

 except just enough to keep the body in good, thrifty condition. 



" The same remarks apply to sheep growing a heavy fleece of wool as to 

 cows giving milk. The feed should be sufficient to supply the needs of the 

 body, and to furnish material out of which the wool is made. Wool, like 

 bone and muscle, requires large quantities of protein in its production. 



" One other class of animals remains to be considered, namely, those 

 doing work. It has already been stated that part of the protein is burned 

 in the blood before it gets to the tissues. When an animal is at work much 

 more of the protein is thus burned ; hence, in order to insure that the tissues 

 will get their share, we must feed more protein. But the energy for work is 

 not all furnished by burning protein, or at least need not be if we will feed 

 an abundance of carbohydrates and fat. Hence we feed a working animal 

 more of all kinds of nutrients. 



" The amount of food given an animal, then, should be governed by the 

 size of the animal, and by what is required of it in the way of growth, work,, 

 wool or milk production. But since the work an animal can do is largely 

 determined by its size, and the amount of growth, and wool or milk produc- 

 tion depends a great deal upon size, we see that for animals under the same 

 conditions as to age, work, etc., the size is after all the most important factor 

 in determining the quantity of its food. In exceptional cases, as in the case 

 of a small cow giving an unusual quantity of rich milk, exceptions must also 

 be made in the amount fed. 



" To sum up the whole thing in a practical way, we may say that every 

 animal should be fed all the protein, carbohydrates and fat that it can make 

 profitable use of. Hence, to get the best results, brains are as necessary in 

 the feeder as protein, etc., are in the feed. 



" Bulk of the Food. Another consideration that must govern us in making 

 rations for stock is the bulk of the feed. With such bulky feed as wheat 

 straw, even if it were highly palatable, a horse could hardly eat enough at 

 three feeds to supply the needed ingredients for a hard day's work. 



"With ordinary hays and grains it has been found desirable to allow about 

 one-third of the dry matter of the feed of a cow to be of grain, and the other 

 two-thirds hay. This ordinarily gives sufficient nutriment, along with suffi- 

 cient bulk, to insure proper response on the part of the digestive organs. 

 About the same proportions are suitable also for horses at work. While with 

 idle horses and dry cows, less grain, or none at all, should be fed, so that the 

 bulk of the food may still be maintained, although the quantity of nutriment 

 in it is lessened. In general, any concentrated feed should be fed along with, 

 some bulk feed. 



