128 THE dairyman's manual. 



life, without loss of substance or gain in weight. This 

 is called the normal maintenance ration, and consists 

 of a class of substances : one known as nitrogenous or 

 albuminoids ; another known as carbonaceous or carbo- 

 hydrates, including oils or fats (which are really carbo- 

 hydrates); and, lastly, one consisting of mineral matters 

 or salts, including phosphate of lime, chloride of sodium 

 or salt, potash, magnesia, a little iron, and a yery small 

 quantity of other mineral matter. To supply the nat- 

 ural requirements of the animal for the restoration of 

 worn-out tissue and for the sujoport of the animal heat and 

 of respiration, there are needed, for every 1,000 pounds 

 of live weight of an animal, about three-quarters of a 

 pound of nitrogenous substances, eight pounds of the 

 carbonaceous substances, one-sixth of a pound of fat, 

 and an insignificant quantity, more or less, of the various 

 salts. Thefee are contained in about twenty pounds of 

 good hay. A certain quantity of these are digested and 

 assimilated, and enter into the structure of the animal; 

 the indigestible portion and the surplus unavoidably 

 given, from the nature of the foods at our command, are 

 ejected from the animaV and form manure. This latter 

 portion of the food and its disposal being of great im- 

 portance will be more fully treated of further on, and 

 after the subject of alimentation for supj^ort and produc- 

 tion of milk has been disposed of. j 



After the natural wants of the animals are supplied, 

 the dairyman's business is to furnish his cows with as 

 much material as they can healtlifully turn into milk 

 and cream. Then the question occurs, Of what do these 

 substances consist ? This is simply answered by saying 

 that milk has almost precisely the same composition as 

 an animal has, and that milk contains every element re- 

 Quired to support an animal. But the dairyman wants 

 to put an excess^)! fat in the milk, of which he can make 

 butter and rich cheese. Hence the feeding of a cow for 



