FEEDS AND FEEDING I43 



time, or a refuse food too little known to meet with 

 ready sale, may be bought at a great bargain. By com- 

 paring the per cents in tlie table the feeder will get a 

 very fair idea of relative food values. The per cents 

 of protein, carbohydrates and fats are of course of 

 main importance. The potential energy or fuel value 

 is also a good general indicator of the nutriment pres- 

 ent. Refuse or second class products suitable for poul- 

 try can be bought very cheap in large cities, and the 

 poultryman who knows the values of these substances 

 can keep his feed bill at a reasonable level even when 

 standard grain feeds are scarce and high. Thus in 

 1902 corn and corn meal were unusually costly, while 

 No. 2 wheat screenings, gluten feed, bran, meat scraps, 

 waste popcorn, waste bread, etc., could be bought at 

 prices which the tables on Pages 146-7-8 and expe- 

 rience also showed to be much more economical. 



In some sections also, some of the less common 

 grains and seeds can be had at a bargain, such as 

 chicken corn, sorghum, millet, rice, broom corn, etc. 

 The table shows that many of these may be used in 

 place of the standard grains, being of practically equal 

 feeding value. The prices of the special or waste feeds 

 do not change to such an extent as in the case of 

 regular commercial feeds, and shrewd feeders use a 

 greater or less quantity according to the fluctuations 

 of the general markets. 



COMPOSITION OF FEEDING STUFFS 



Water — All feeding stuffs contain water. The 

 amount of water in 100 pounds of such dry material 

 as hay, straw or grain is from eight to twenty pounds ; 

 in green fodder, sixty to eighty-five pounds, and as 

 high as ninety pounds in some roots. 



