A GENERAL RULE 239 



A General Rule. — Except when a very large amount of 

 milk or a very rich milk in quite liberal quantity is to be pro- 

 vided for the following general rule will provide an approx- 

 imately balanced ration. The rule is : " Feed 2 pounds of hay, 

 or 1 pound of hay and 3 pounds of silage, or 1 pound of hay and 

 1% of fodder per hundredweight of cow. Then make up a mix- 

 ture of three or more grains in such proportion as to contain 

 about 16 per cent digestible protein if timothy or wild hay is to 

 be fed, or about 13 per cent digestible protein if clover-timothy 

 mixture hay is to be fed, or about 11 per cent digestible protein if 

 clover hay is to be fed, or about 9 per cent of digestible protein if 

 alfalfa hay is to be fed ; and then feed of the grain mixture 1 

 pound for every Sl/o to 3 pounds of milk, if Jersey or Guernsey 

 cows, or 1 pound to 3 pounds of milk if Shorthorn grade, or 

 1 pound to 3 or 31/) pounds if Holstein." 



As an example, suppose grade Shorthorns or Shorthom-Hol- 

 stein cows are to be fed and the hay at hand is a mixture of 

 wild grasses and timothy. The hay and silage or hay and fodder 

 would then be fed as already mentioned and would approx- 

 imately sustain the animal so far as maintenance requirements 

 are concerned. To provide such a herd with grain we may 

 start with com, oats, or barley and one or two purchased high 

 protein feeds — say bran and cottonseed meal. The mixture to 

 contain between 15 and 16 per cent digestible protein would 

 have to be made about as follows : 



Lbs. Protein Carbohydrates Fat 



Corn 4 ..316 2.67 .162 



Oats 2 .214 1.01 .076 



Bran ly, .178 .6.3 .037 



Cottonseed meal 2% .840 .54 .240 



10 1..548 4.8.5 .525 



Expressed in terms of per cent the composition of this 

 mixture would be, protein 15.48 per cent, carbohydrates 48.5 

 per cent and fat 5.25' per cent. 



In this the protein is quite up to the amount usually needed 



