THE EFFICIENCY OF RATIONS 307 



any nutrient is not as efficient as one which suppKes the 

 proper amounts and proportions of the nutrients, i.e. a 

 balanced ration. Thus a ration of corn, hnseed meal, and 

 clover hay is more efficient for beef production than one of 

 corn and timothy hay, largely because the former ration 

 suppHes more nearly the proper proportions of the different 

 nutrients. 



The digestibility of the ration has a marked effect upon 

 its efficiency. Obviously the more digestible the ration is, 

 the greater is its efficiency. Thus a ration consisting largely 

 of the more digestible concentrates is more efficient than one 

 consisting largely of the less digestible roughages as the un- 

 digested part of the ration has no value to the animal body. 

 Of course, the relative prices of concentrates and rough- 

 ages also must be considered in formulating the ration, as 

 this will determine to a large extent their proportions in the 

 ration. 



The Amount of the Ration. — When one considers that 

 a certain amount of feed is always necessary for mainte- 

 nance, it would seem that the larger the amount fed above 

 maintenance the more efficient would be the gains. On 

 the other hand, as has been stated, a full-feed ration con- 

 taining a fairly large proportion of roughage to concentrates 

 is not digested as thoroughly as a smaller ration. In an 

 experiment at the Illinois Experiment Station ^ by Mum- 

 ford, Grindley, Emmett, and Bull with 4 lots of four 

 2-year-old steers each, all lots were fed corn and clover 

 hay for 22 weeks, after which time linseed meal was 

 introduced into the ration. The feeding period extended 

 over 37 weeks. One lot received as much feed as they 



^ Unpublished data. 



