28 FORAGE CROPS 



lent form, for many times it is partially dried and 

 not very palatable. That is, it is not possible, in 

 pasturing, always to control the conditions in such 

 a way as to secure reasonable uniformity in the 

 proportion of contained water, or in the kind and 

 Quality of the nutrients in the food. 



BALANCED RATIONS 



Another consideration in feeding, important 

 from the physiological standpoint, is the proper 

 relation of the kinds of nutrients to each other in 

 any given food; from the economical poiut of view, 

 this principle cannot always be applied in soiling 

 systems, although it should always be considered. 



It has been very clearly demonstrated that for 

 the best results in stock-feeding, there should be 

 a reasonably definite ratio between the digestible 

 nitrogenous and the digestible non- nitrogenous 

 nutrients. An excess of the nitrogenous nutrients 

 usually causes a greater increase in the cost of the 

 ration when feeds are purchased than when the 

 carbohydrates, or non -nitrogenous nutrients, are 

 in excess. In the case of crops suitable for soiling 

 purposes, it is often quite as economical, or even 

 more economical, to feed a ration richer than the 

 standard in its content of digestible nitrogenous 

 nutrients than to attempt to widen the ration by 

 the use of carbohydrate feeds. This is due to the 



