ARID AGElCtTLTUEE. 



319 



TO WIDEN 

 WESTERN' 

 RATIONS 



Since the estnblishinent of the sua;ar-beet fac- 

 tories, we have a feeding material which may be 

 used in place of corn to widen the ration. This 

 is the waste molasses from these factories. It 

 contains a little nitrogenous material, but is, per- 

 haps, two-thirds sugar, and the sugar is practi- 

 cally all digestible. It is usually fed by mixing 

 with ground alfalfa or pea hay, straw or other 

 roughage, and where it can be obtained it solves 

 the ration problem for our farmers. 



Other ways of widening rations is to mix al- 

 falfa which is rich in protein with other grasses, 

 grain or straw. Wilcox recommends the "straw 

 sandwich.'' This is feed composed of a layer of 

 alfalfa and a laver of straw stacked together. 

 Timothy, Brome grass, orchard grass or wheat 

 grass are often planted M-ith alfalfa and the mix- 

 ture helps widen the ration, i. e., makes a larger 

 proportion of carbo-hydrates to protein. 



The principal way the feeder widens his ra- 

 tions is by the use of corn. Other grains useful 

 for this purpose are either tlie sweet or non-sac- 

 charine sorghum seeds. 



It has been found that our western foods are 

 very different in their chemical composition and 

 digestibility from like feeds raised in the East. 

 While the eastern analyses ajid tables serve 

 a useful purpose as general indications of what 

 and how much we should feed, they are faulty, 

 and we must needs build up a science of arid re- 

 gion stock-feeding just as we must discover our 



