ILLINOIS STATE DAIRYMEN'S ASSOCIATION 295 



Suggestions as to the Purchase of Concentrated Feeding Stuffs. 



The guarantees of the manufacturers as to the contents of 

 protein and fat in the Hcensed feeds will be found in the pre- 

 ceding list; by comparing the guarantees with the prices at 

 which the feeds are sold, a fairly accurate idea as to the rela- 

 tive value of the different feeding stuffs to the farmer may be 

 obtained. Guarantees of the protein and fat contents of feed- 

 ing stuffs are required by the law because these components are 

 of the highest value to feeders and the quantities in which they 

 are found in different feeds can be readily and accurately de- 

 termined by chemical analysis. This is not the case with some 

 other components of feeding stuffs that are also of great import- 

 ance in the nutrition of farm animals, notably starch and sugar. 

 We are, however, generally speaking, justified m corisidenng 

 protein the most important component of concentrated feeding 

 stuffs; first, because the crops grown on the farm are likely to 

 be rather deficient in this component and this must therefore 

 be supplied in order to supplement the farm crops in the feed- 

 ing of live stock, and second, because the substances spoken of 

 collectively as protein or albuminoids are of vital importance 

 to the animals and cannot be entirely replaced by other food 

 components; they are the only constituents of cattle foods that 

 furnish the material required to produce flesh, milk, eggs, 

 wool, and similar substances, and a certain minimum of them 

 is absolutely necessary to sustain the vital processes of the ani- 

 mal and to replace the unavoidable wastes of the body occur- 

 ring through the exercise of vital functions, through secretions, 

 involuntary and voluntary motions, etc. 



Under otherwise similar conditions, the richer a food is in 

 protein the more valuable it is, therefore, to the farmer, if the 

 food is of such a character that it can be fed successfully to the 

 animals kept. The farmer cannot, as a rule, afford to buy a 

 food very low in protein and high in carbohydrates, as he can 

 generally produce such foods at a lower cost than they can be 

 bought for elsewhere. It should be remembered in this con- 

 nection that the guarantees given by the manufacturers are for 



