154 CONTINUOUS CROPPING 



Realising the necessity for a ration to have the 

 digestible ingredients of a food in certain proportions, 

 scientists have devised what is known as the albuminoid 

 ratio. This means the ratio between the albuminous 

 food and the non-albuminous, when the fat in a food 

 is expressed in its carbohydrate equivalent. That is 

 to say, I lb. of digestible fat is as valuable for nutrition 

 as 2 '3 lbs. of carbohydrates, so that the method of 

 determining the albuminoid ratio is to multiply the 

 digestible fat by 2-3, add to it the digestible carbo- 

 hydrates, and divide the sum obtained by the amount 

 of the digestible albuminoids. 



For instance, in 100 lbs. of milk we have — 



Digestible albuminoids 3-25 lbs. 

 Digestible fat 375 lbs. 

 Digestible carbohydrates 475 lbs. 



According to formula: — (Fat x 2 -3+ carbohydrates) 

 -r-albuminoids=the albuminoid ratio. 

 In figures, the albuminoid ratio 



= 375X2-3H-475 



3-25 

 = 13-375 -^3-25==4-ii 



The answer is approximately 4. That is to say, the 

 albuminoid ratio of new milk is as i to 4, or, for every 

 I lb. of digestible albuminoids in milk, there are 4 lbs. 

 of digestible non-albuminoids. 



BALANCED AND UNBALANCED RATIONS 



Now, when a ration contains a proper proportion of 

 digestible albuminoids to digestible fats and carbo- 

 hydrates, it is spoken of as a balanced ration. On the 

 other hand, if there is a deficiency of albuminoids, or, 

 what amounts to the same thing, an excess of fats or 

 carbohydrates, the ration is unbalanced. 



