BALANCED RATIONS FOR MILK. 171 



Total ....'. 2.57 12.06 1.46 



Nutritive ratio, 1 to 5.4. 



This is a fairly-balanced milk ration. The ration could not be properly bal- 

 anced with any combination of the foods he gives, and we use cottonseed 

 meal because he can easily obtain it at a comparatively low rate, and it is one 

 of the best balancing foods for milk and butter, besides" being worth all it costs 

 in that locality as a fertilizer. Nearly all farmers now appreciate the return 

 of fertility to the soil by improved farming. It is nearly always the first begin- 

 ning of extensive farming. The Cotton States have a great compensating 

 resource in this by-product of the cotton plant. 



The 5 Ibs. cut corn stover should be well mixed with the ensilage and then 

 the whole slightly further moistened, and the ground oats, cob meal and cotton- 

 seed meal being first mixed together dry, should be well mixed with the ensilage 

 and cut stover. 



2. The ration for his year-olds may be 30 Ibs. ensilage, 5 Ibs. ground oats, 

 mixed together and given in three feeds. 



3. For the six-months calves he may give 15 Ibs. ensilage, 4 Ibs. ground 

 oats, mixed together and given in three feeds. 



We give these ground oats in the ration for the milch cows and in the 

 ration for the younger animals, because he seems to desire it ; yet if the com- 

 parative price of oats is as much in that locality as in others, we should think 

 it would be economy to substitute fine bran for the ground oats, the result 

 being practically the same. 



"Please compound ration for four Holstein heifers with first calf, two years 

 old, average 980 Ibs., with 34 Ibs. milk per day. They had no grain, and win- 

 tered well on hay and straw, but are falling away considerably in flesh and 

 milk, which you will see by enclosed memorandum : 



Weight. , Milk, seven days. Total. 



1,080 39 39 37 38 3(3 36 35 260 



1,040 . . . 36 36 36 35 34 34 33 ... 244 



950 ... 36 36 33 33 33 33 32 236 



850 ... 35 35 33 32 31 30 31 ... 217 



3,920 957 



(Daily average, 34 Ibs.) 



" With economy in view, I wish to improve them in flesh and get the great- 

 est flow of milk, from hay, corn, oats, bran and oil meal; have a good hay cutter. 

 Hay is common meadow hay (fine), timothy, clover, red top, and some orchard 

 grass in it. J. V. W." 



J. V. W. has, according to his record, four very promising heifers that 

 need only to be properly fed to develop into desirable cows. We should think 

 the following combination would make a very good ration for them. Let him 

 first grind an equal weight of corn and oats together, then make up the follow- 

 ing ration for each heifer : 14 Ibs. cut mixed hay, 6 Ibs. corn and oats ground 

 together, 4 Ibs. wheat bran and 2 Ibs. oil meal. This ration will have about the 

 following digestible nutrients, in pounds : 



Albuminoids. Carbohydrates. Fat. 



14 Ibs. cut mixed hay, . . . 0.63 6.16 0.15 



6 " corn and oats ground, . . 0.52 3.11 28 



4 " wheat bran, .... 0.47 1.84 0.10 



2 " oil meal, 0.56 0.56 0.12 



Total, 2.18 11.67 0.65 



Nutritive ratio, 1 to 6. 



This ration is well adapted to quantity and quality of milk, and to put the 

 heifers in good condition and keep up that condition. This ration should be 

 given in three feeds, smallest at noon, and fed at the same times each day. 

 The grain part of the ration is all mixed together dry, and then mixed evenly 

 with the moistened cut hay. 



