14 



BOARD OF AGRICULTURE. [Pub. Doc. 



store up her food on account of her wandering habits. A 

 thorough understanding of this subject will help us in the 

 consideration of much of the data that will follow. 



In our original studies of feeds and food principles, very 

 little attention was paid to the value of the ash, or the mineral 

 portion of feeds. It was thought that if we fed the right 

 proportions of protein, carbohydrates and fats we were meet- 

 ing all the requirements of the animal. However, more 

 recent investigations and experiences have shown that many 

 times animals do not do well because the food lacks mineral 

 matter. Certain animals have been fed on ash-free food, and 

 it was found that within a few days a decided change took 

 place; the animal became weak, was unable to eat sufficient 

 food, and if the experiment was continued for a few weeks 

 it died. 



In studying the needs of various classes of animals, natur- 

 ally the milk of the mother formed the basis for investigation. 



Table 1. — Showing the Importance of Ash, Protein and P«-Or, in the 

 Feed for Growing Stock. 



The foregoing is a very interesting chart on the analysis 

 of milk of various animals. The first column gives the name 

 of the mother and the second, the number of days after birth 

 required for the young to double its weight. For example, 

 the baby usually doubles its weight in one hundred and 

 eighty days, the colt in sixty days, the calf in forty-seven 

 days, and so on until we reach the rabbit, which doubles its 

 weight in about six days. The third column gives the amount 

 of lime in the milk of the mother. Notice that the amount 

 of lime in the milk of these animals is inversely, proportioned 



