Part One — Feeding Dairy Cattle 



1. The Composition and Selection of Concentrates 



THE c[uestion of feeding dair\' cattle is largely a question 

 of growing roughage suitable for the cows on the 

 farm ; in some cases the growing of a little grain, and 

 lastly and most important of all, the selection of the proper 

 purchased feeds to supplement the ones grown at home. 



A feed is grown or purchased for the total digestible 

 material in it. The water and the indigestible matter are of 

 no particular use to the animal and are like the "filler" in a 

 fertilizer. Therefore the study of the selection of feeds 

 either to be grown or to be purchased must be based on the 

 cost of the digestible material and the needs of the cow for 

 certain particular things in her ration. The things needed 

 in a ration are digestible protein, digestible carboh3'drates 

 and digestible fat. These are familiar terms to all readers 

 and need no particular discussion here. \Mien a feed is 

 purchased or grown it is for the digestible protein, the diges- 

 tible carbohydrates and the digestible fat in it. The feeds to 

 l;e chosen are those in which we can get the most of these 

 things for one dollar. 



The ordinar}- coarse feeds grown on farms are mixed 

 hay, corn silage and cornstalks or fodder. The grains ordi- 

 narily grown are corn, oats, barle}- and buckwheat. We 

 must purchase feeds to properly supplement these feeds we 

 grow at home and study the growing of those that will give 

 us the most at the least cost. For purposes of convenience 

 it is customary to add together the digestible protein, di- 

 gestible carbohydrates and digestible fat multiplied bv 2^ 

 and call the result the total digesti])le nutrients. This is 

 usually computed on the ton basis. For example : there are 

 in 100 pounds of gluten feed, 21.6 pounds of digestible pro- 

 tein, 51.9 pounds of digestible carbohydrates and 3.2 pounds 

 of digestible fat. 3.2X2^4^7-2 plus 51.9 plus 21.6 equal 

 80.7 pounds of total digestible nutrients in 100 pounds of 

 gluten feed. The fat in any feed is worth 2^ times as 

 much as the carbohydrates and protein, there f(jre the fat is 

 multiplied by 2j4 before adding. 80.7X20 equal 1614 

 Page Thirteen 



