FEEDS AND FEEDING 385 



it by drawing on the reserves in the form of flesh or fat 

 in her body, with a consequent loss of weight. 



Scientific Feeding. Scientific feeding of farm ani- 

 mals consists, first, in knowing the composition of the 

 body of the animal to be fed, and giving the animal such 

 food as shall contain the elements required to maintain 

 the body tissues and in such quantities and proportions 

 as careful experiment may determine will keep the 

 animal without loss or gain of weight. Second, the 

 composition and weight of product that the animal gives 

 should be known and an additional amount of food con- 

 taining the elements found in the product should be 

 fed in proper proportions and in quantity sufficient to 

 make up the weight of the product. 



Compounding Rations. In making rations for 

 different classes of farm animals such a combination 

 of foods should be made as will fulfill the following 

 conditions : 



First, the food should be in accord with the physical 

 character of the animals to be fed. Garbage should 

 not be fed to horses, neither should timothy hay be 

 fed to hogs. 



Second, cattle, horses, and sheep should be fed a 

 combination of roughage, such as hay, fodder, and silage, 

 to give bulk to the ration, and some concentrates, such 

 as grains, linseed meal, and cottonseed meal. 



Third, such feeds should be chosen for a ration as 

 will furnish the food elements necessary for the animal 

 at the smallest cost. This will usually lead the farmer 

 to feed only the products of his farm. It may in some 

 cases, however, be more economical for him to sell cer- 

 tain products of the farm and to buy other feeds for 

 his stock. 



M. & H. AG. 25 



