THIRTY-EIGHTH ANNUAL CONVENTION 279 



BALANCED VS. UNBALANCED RATIONS FOR 

 DAIRY COWS. 



By Wilber J. Fraser, Chief in Dairy Husbandry, and Cassius C. Hayden, 

 Assistant Chief in Dairy Husbandry. 



Introduction. 



The facts given in the following pages furnish a good ex- 

 ample of the difference in value between a well-balanced, though 

 not ideal, and an unbalanced ration. Although the standard 

 balanced ration for dairy cows is fairly well determined, yet 

 there are many dairymen who still persist in feeding a ration 

 composed largely of corn and such roughage as corn stover, tim- 

 othy hay, etc., which make an unbalanced ration. Taking the 

 above facts into consideration, the Department of Dairy Hus- 

 bandry deemed it wise to conduct an experiment to show the 

 loss which may be sustained by dairymen who persist in feeding 

 unbalanced rations. 



Possibly it may be well to call to mind what is meant by a 

 balanced ration. A balanced ration is one in which each of 

 the different food materials or nutrients is present in just the 

 right proportion and amount to meet the needs of the animal. 

 If there is too much of either carbohydrates or protein, the ex- 

 cess becomes a waste; if there is too little of either, the others 

 present will not be used to the best advantage. That the last 

 statements are true, and that there is a large difference in the 

 amount of milk produced from a balanced and from an unbal- 

 anced ration, has long been known, but it seems difficult for 

 many dairymen to realize this fact. They fail to understand 

 that quantity of feed cannot be made to take the place of quality 

 and that there is a necessary connection between the nutrients in 

 the feed and those in the milk ; hence they are inclined to look at 

 the cow as a machine which can turn any kind of feed which 

 she will eat into the constituents of milk. She can no more do 

 this than a mason can build a house with sand and brick without 



