GETTING THE MOST FROM FEEDS 93 
for feed and fertilizer is secured only when the feed has 
been properly prepared in the first place, then fed in the 
proper combination with other feeds to farm animals of 
good breeding and selected for the purpose to which they 
are best adapted, and finally so handled as manure that the 
fertilizing materials are not lost through fermentation, 
decomposition and leaching. Such practice is good farm- 
ing and is fundamental for success in feed lot or open field. 
To get the best results 
there must be a proper 
relation (1) between 
the total dry matter and 
the total digestible nu- 
trients and (2) between 
the digestible protein 
and the digestible car- 
bohydrates. For ex- How Not To Store MANURE 
ample, from 100 pounds This bad practice causes an annual loss of 
millions of dollars. Why will we do it? 
of hay a horse may 
digest 40 pounds of nutrients. Twenty-four pounds may 
be burned up in the work of digesting the hay, thus 
leaving but 16 pounds available for labor. From 100 
pounds of oats, a horse may digest 72 pounds, 12 pounds 
of which are consumed in the work of digestion, leaving 
60 pounds for labor. Thus oats may be nearly four times 
as valuable as hay for a horse that must exercise great 
power or speed. An ordinary milk cow will consume 
from 24 to 30 pounds of dry matter, two-thirds of which 
should be digestible, while one-eighth of the digestible 
material should be protein. 
