37 



is about right for laying stock, and the ration 1.6 is about right 

 for fattening. In making up the ration the ingredients are 

 weighed, not measured, and the fat is multiplied by 2.25 (or 

 2j/4) to reduce it to carbohydrates. 



A wide ration is one in which the protein is largely ex- 

 ceeded by the carbohydrates ; a narrow ration is one in which 

 the protein and carbohydrates are more nearly equal. As a 

 matter of fact, anything exceeding 1.6 would be called a wide 

 ration, and anything under it a narrow one. 



SOME THINGS TO BEAR IN MIND. 



The reader who has followed me carefully will see how 

 absolutely impossible it is to feed a flock of hens by rule, 

 common sense must come in. A ration that would be cor- 

 rectly balanced for one day would not be balanced for the 

 next. For instance, on a very cold day in winter we burn 

 twice as much coal to keep warm as on a mild day, and on 

 the same day the flock would require a much wider ration 

 (more carbohydrates or warming up food) than on a mild 

 day or in midsummer. 



Fortunately the hen has considerable power of adjustment, 

 and so survives our well-meaning but bungling and imper- 

 fect efforts to feed her scientifically. If we do not feed enough, 

 she draws upon her reserve ; and if we feed too much she has 

 the power of passing the excess through the body unassimilat- 

 ed. It is for this reason that I advocate feeding generously. 

 Nature can take care of a surplus if it is not too great, but the 

 only way in which she can meet a deficit is by drawing on her 

 reserve. 



The reader, too, will now see why it is that one poultry- 

 man feeds one way, and another another, and both have good 

 results. The principal thing is to get your rations with suc- 

 culent, nutritious food ; and if you do this your hens are sure 

 to respond with a goodly output of eggs. 



GREEN FOODS. 



What is the value of green food in the daily ration? Its 

 great value is that it makes it more digestible ; it lightens 

 up the ration and makes it possible for the gastric juices to 

 permeate every particle. Then, too, green food often contains 

 certain mineral salts that the birds need, in a soluble and di- 

 gestible form. Green food should form a portion of the daily 

 bill of fare, either in the mash or separately. "In the winter 

 and early spring months, mangel-wurzels, if properly kept, 



