FEEDS AND FEEDING 



395 



Notes. Compounding a balanced ration. Suppose we wished 

 to compound a ration for a dairy cow weighing about 1000 pounds and 

 giving about 1 6^ pounds of milk daily. We have the following feeds on 

 hand : clover hay, corn stover, bran, corn meal, and cottonseed meal. 



Now by. consulting the feeding standards from the table in the 

 Appendix, we find that such a cow as described will need for each 

 hundred pounds of weight 2.7 pounds of dry matter, .2 pound of 

 protein, i.i pounds carbohydrates, and .04 pound of fats, or ether 

 extract, making a nutritive ratio of i : 6. 



How shall these food elements be supplied from the foods on hand ? 

 In making up a ration for cows from 20 to 40 pounds of roughage should 

 be supplied daily and very much less of the concentrates. Too much 

 concentrates fed to a cow giving milk is liable to produce garget, a dis- 

 ease of the udder. Cottonseed meal and linseed meal should be fed 

 with great care in amounts not to exceed 3 pounds daily. 



With these facts in mind, let us make up a ration and compare it 

 with the requirements given in the standard. 



TRIAL RATION 



From the table the weight of food elements expressed in decimals 

 of a pound must be multiplied by the number of pounds selected in the 

 ration. 



When these amounts are added we have the total nutrients to com- 



