33 



Excepting rice meal, the digestibility of the above feeds has not 

 been determined, but it is probably slightly below corn meal. Oat 

 feed would frequently show a decidedly inferior digestibility. 



III. HOW BEST TO UTILIZE THE CONCENTRATED FEEDS. 



Attention has already been called to the fact that such feeds are 

 especially valuable because of their digestibility and high protein 

 content. Home-grown coarse feeds on the contrary are of a 

 starchy nature, and much less digestible. Now many experiments 

 have shown that milch cows of 1,000 pounds live weight need the 

 following quantities of digestible nutrients daily: Protein, 2.5 

 pounds; fat, .5 pound; carbohydrates, 13.0 pounds; total, 16.0 

 pounds; nutritive ratio, 1:5.4 pounds. Such a ration contains 

 16 pounds of total nutrients and about 5i times as much carbohy- 

 drates as protein, and it is said to be properly balanced. Now, if 

 a cow should be fed all she would consume of any palatable, dry, 

 coarse fodder, such as an average quality of hay, she would have 

 at her disposal the following digestible constituents: Protein, 1.4 

 pounds; fat, 0.4 pound; carbohydrates, 12.4 pounds; total, 14.2 

 pounds; nutritive ratio, 1:9.5 pounds. Such a ration lacks in 

 protein as well as in total digestible matter. It has 9.5 times as 

 much carbohydrates as protein, and is said to be improperly bal- 

 anced. It is in order to increase the protein and the total digesti- 

 ble matter, that recourse is had to the concentrated feeds. By the 

 proper combination of these feeds, fed in approximately definite 

 quantities daily, these ends can be attained. Here follows the de- 

 tailed classification of the concentrated feeds made on the basis of 

 the protein they contain : — 



Table IX. 



The feeds in Class I. furnish the largest amount of protein, 

 those in Class II. next largest, and so on. Those standing first in 

 their class are richest in protein, and those last poorest. For prac- 

 tical purposes, in combining the various concentrated feeds into 



