28 The Sweet Potato 



we made determinations on all of the varieties and 

 found that there were no amides present." 



Importance in the proper balancing of the farm ani- 

 mal's ration cannot be over-emphasized. The proper 

 proportion of heat and energy producing foods with 

 muscle builders must be fed for economy as well as for 

 the well-being of the animal. It is too often neglected 

 to give a sufficient amount of fat and carbohydrates with 

 the protein feed. Although protein when supplied in 

 over-abundance will partly do the work of carbohydrates, 

 it is an expensive means of supplying it. One part of 

 protein in the food should be supplemented with six 

 parts of fats and carbohydrates for a milk cow. When 

 much more protein than this is used, it cannot be 

 assimilated by the animal and so is lost in the manure. 

 As Keitt points out, a mixture of 8 pounds of sweet 

 potatoes to 1 pound of cotton-seed meal would give a 

 nutritive ratio of approximately six to one. Such a 

 ration if periodically supplanted by other rations to 

 avoid getting the animal " off-feed " will give good 

 results. The value of this crop in the production of 

 milk has been aptly illustrated in recent tests with the 

 ensilage. 



Sweet potato silage. 



The first record of making the crop into silage was 

 in 1912 when the Florida Experiment Station con- 

 ducted feeding experiments with sweet potatoes. The 

 roots were run through the ensilage cutter and handled 

 the same as any other crop. The comparative analysis 

 of com and sweet potato silage was as follows : 



