CROPPING AND FEEDING SYSTEMS 



841 



enough livestock to consume all the by-products. When a farm is so heavily 

 stocked that all the farm products are consumed, in years of low yields 

 feed will have to be purchased, generally at such a high price as to make 

 livestock an unprofitable enterprise. 



Feed Units. — Feeds of different kinds are most readily compared by 

 using a standard. Corn, being the leading crop in America, is the best 

 standard to use. When corn is taken as 1, the equivalent value of a few 

 other products is as follows: mixed hay .4, alfalfa .5, cottonseed meal 



The Scale is a Necessary Adjunct to Profitable Feeding. 1 



1.25, wheat bran, oats, malt sprouts and similar feeds .91, corn silage .17, 

 root crops .08. These equivalents vary somewhat, depending on the 

 quality of the product in question. The value of other products is more 

 definitely given in the feeding tables. Roughly, a cow or horse requires 

 about 25 pounds of dry matter daily. This will generally contain from 18 

 to 20 feed units. The relation of protein, carbohydrates, etc., will depend 

 on the work that the animal is doing or the product that is made. 



Profits from Cheap Crop Products. — The cheapest stock feeds are 

 products on which little labor has been expended and the cheapest way of 



1 Courtesy of The Pennsylvania Fanner. 



