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of the morning, treated by Prof. Whitcher from a scientific 

 standpoint. The question is what rations will give the 

 best results with animals, and experimenting in this line is 

 still young yet. 



The subject may be divided into three parts : " Wluitis the 

 food for ?" " How much should be fed ?" and "What kind 

 should be fed ?" Every substance fed to animals contains 

 starch, sugar, oil, albumenoids and other substances, but in 

 different proportions. Now we feed to sustain life, and to 

 do that it is necessary first, to produce heat ; second, to 

 produce force or energy ; and third, to produce growth or 

 increase the live weight. 



The temperature of the animal body must remain the 

 same the year round, no matter whether the atmosphere is 

 zero or ninety, and this heat is maintained by food, the 

 same as coal in a boiler. In the second place we feed force 

 and energy, and it is estimated that a working ox consumes 

 three times as much as one standing still in the barn. And 

 third we feed to increase the live weight, or growth, wheth- 

 er fat, wool, muscle or whatever is desired, and dili'erent 

 foods are adapted to these various needs. 



Milk contains about eighty-seven parts water, thirteen 

 parts solids, and this latter substance contains nitrogen, 

 the muscular parts of the animal, the wool of the sheep, etc., 

 from the albumenoids of the food. Mr. Whitcher devoted 

 himself principally to the feeding of milch cows, and gave 

 as an excellent ration for a cow weighing 1000 pounds, for 

 one day's feed, twenty pounds hay, five pounds of corn fod- 

 der or oat straw, three pounds o[ corn meal, three pounds 

 gluten and three pounds of middlings. If ensilage were 

 used in place of hay, he would give forty-four pounds a day. 

 Ensilage mixed with coarse fodder makes a good ration, 

 and oat straw is as good as English hay when mixed with 

 ensilage. Clover mixed with hay makes a good ration for 

 butter ; but altogether too much starchy food, principally 

 corn meal, is fed to milch cows. It would be better i^ 

 farmers used no more corn meal than what they raised here 



