FEEDING 203 



cutting it, and the extra labor involved in husking the 

 corn from the shock, amounting all told to not over 

 one dollar and fifty cents per ton ; again, when cotton- 

 seed meal or linseed meal costs from twenty to thirty 

 dollars per ton. It is clear that it would be necessary 

 for the balancing of the ration to exert a profound in- 

 fluence upon its efficiency in order to meet the in- 

 creased cost involved. A study of the experimental 

 results with balanced and unbalanced ration for differ- 

 ent classes of stock which follows in this chapter, while 

 showing a decided and uniform advantage in favor of 

 the balanced ration, yet fails to show sufficient differ- 

 ence for most purposes to justify the expense in the 

 particular case noted above. Clearly there is no law 

 of nature or nations requiring the feeder to balance his 

 rations beyond the point of profit. 



On the other hand, if, as it will be clearly shown 

 from the experimental data submitted, there is in 

 nearly every situation an opportunity to so combine 

 material at hand or material that may be gotten at a 

 reasonable cost as to practically balance the ration and 

 in so doing to increase the profits correspondingly, the 

 conservatism and prejudice of the other class of ex- 

 tremists must at once yield. 



In general, the best ration is made of such a com- 

 bination of foodstuffs as will give the proper propor- 

 tion of protein and carbohydrates for the particular 

 class of animals or the special purpose for which it is 

 to be used. At the same time careful attention must be 

 given to the cost of the material to be used, the pala- 

 tability of the ration and the convenience with which 

 it may be obtained and fed. In short, the controlling 

 factor in making up every ration should be its cost 

 in proportion to its productiveness ; but as has already 

 been stated, the taste and appetite of the animal should 

 be catered to, and heed should be given to the adapta- 



