l6o ILLINOIS STATE DAIRYMEN'S ASSOCIATION. 



about 12.50 is all the cow ought to have. With clover hay for roughage^ 

 the conditions would be quite the reverse of cornstover. In twenty 

 pounds of clover hay we have 1.3 G pounds of protein against .34 in the 

 same weight of cornstover, making it possible to use a concentrate con^ 

 taining a larger percentage of carbohydrates: and less of protein as the 

 protein isi secured in the clover. 



In fact, an ideal ration for ujilk may be had where clover is abundant 

 with the farm grown concentrates by adding only one-half pound of cot- 

 tonseed meal, fifteen pounds of clover hay, with found pounds, each of 

 Ijarley, corn, and oats and one-half pound of cottonseed meal, give 23.^4 

 pounds of dry matter contaimngl\25 pounds of protein, 12.62 pounds of 

 carbohydrates, and .71 pounds of fat. 



An important factor m the economic production of milk and larger 

 profit for the dairymen, consists in selecting those concentrates which 

 furnish protein at the least expen se and balance their roughage grain and 

 mill feed in a ratio of one pound of protein to six of carbohydrates, al- 

 ways considering the market price of the farm grown food and protein, 

 it contains. 



Not three weeks ago in the village of Sharon, Wisconsin, the writer 

 ascertained the market value of oats which was 23 cents per bushel. This 

 price made the protein or milk food contained in one ton of wheat bran 

 worth $20.14. Bran was selling iix the same market for $14.40, so that for 

 every ton of bran that was used instead of oats with corn meal, the farm- 

 er saved $5.14, and for every one hundred bushels of oats used in the ra- 

 tion for milch cows, the farmer has literally lost $9.18, as much as though 

 he had opened his stove door and thrown it into the fire. Notwithstand- 

 ing this extravagant waste, the farmers were feeding oats and corn for a 

 milk ration. This is not only true in Sharon, but the writer' has found 

 that the same extravagance is unconsciously indulged only in a less de- 

 gree among many farmers in the State of Illinois. Many thousands of 

 dollars will be lost the' present winter in the State of Illinois that might 

 add comforts to many farm homes, because the real feeding value of our 

 different kinds of food is as yet so little understood. 



