12 



to force. A forcing ration should consist of at least half ground 

 grains by weight. If we want to make our ration still more 

 forcing we should cause our hens to eat a still greater propor- 

 tion of the ground grains. 



The following chart shows the value of skim milk as a food, 

 and its data were supplied by an experiment carried on at the 

 Wisconsin Agricultural Experiment Station a few years ago. 

 A sow weighing 23 pounds was placed in a pen in the month 

 of May, where she could get nothing to eat except what was 

 given her. She was fed wholly on skim milk for one year, 

 at the end of which time she weighed about 406 poimds, and 

 produced 10 pigs, the total weight of which at birth was 23 

 pounds. The sow and pigs were continued on the same ration, 

 and when the latter were six weeks old thev averaged 18.6 

 pounds apiece. We know of no experiment that has ever 

 been carried on that shows more conclusively the value of skim 

 milk as a food. It should be used for poultry when obtainable 

 at 25 to 30 cents per hundred pounds. Better results will 

 follow if it is soured before feeding, as the increased amount 

 of lactic acid aids digestion. 



Table 6. ■ — ■ Value of Skim Milk as a Food for Animals. 



Pounds. 



Weight at beginning of experiment, 23.0 



Weight one year later, 406.0 



Weight of 10 pigs produced, . . . . . . .23.0 



Average weight of pig's at six weeks of age. . . . .18.6 



Concentrated Feeds. 



Just as conceutrates have enabled the dairyman to develop 

 the modern cow, so they have enabled us to develop the hen 

 into the modern egg machine. Were we to feed poultry as it 

 was done forty or fifty years ago, we would not get any more 

 eggs than were produced then. At that time, on many farms, 

 hens were not expected to lay except during the spring and 

 early summer. I?he reason they laid in the spring so well 

 was because of the green feed, worms, bugs, etc., that they 

 were able to pick up. But concentrates, such as meat meal, 

 gluten feed, oil meal, etc., have enabled us to feed the hen 



