ILLINOIS DAIRYMEN'S ASSOCIATION. 31 



the water and acidity of the corn ensilage. But don't fail to let your cows 

 have all the water they waat. Prof. Horsf all found that a cow giving twenty 

 pounds of milk a day drank forty pounds of water more than a fattening an- 

 imal of exactly her weight. Although only about seventeen and one-half 

 pounds of this extra water went into the milk, the system of the cow called 

 for the extra forty pounds. In winter, the water which a cow drinks should 

 not be ice-cold, but of moderate temperature, not colder than well water. 

 Some dairymen say it pays to warm the water to blood heat. 



Let me call attention to the fact that none of the feeding tables treat corn, 

 or corn-fodder, or both combined, as a perfect food. They all supplement it 

 with more nitrogenous food. This makes also a variety of food, which is 

 better relished. Animals, as well as men, tire of eating one kind of food, 

 however well-balanced it may be. The probabilities are that we cannot as 

 yet formulate a perfect ration for man or beast, and that it is necessary to 

 have variety in order to eliminate error from the problem. I am in favor of 

 a much great-r variety of food for animals. If they had a wide enough 

 range of selection they would properly balance the ration for themselves. 

 As we do not give them this range, it is our duty to balance the ration as 

 nearly as possible, and to preserve their food in the best possible condition. 



The laws applicable to animals are just as applicable to the human race. 

 Knowledge is not amiss in preparing our own rations. Circumstances and 

 early treatment in childhood often pervert the appetite and give false tastes. 

 So also those who indulge in the pleasures of the appetite are liable to create 

 diseased and vicious appetites. The millions spent for tobacco and alcoholic 

 drinks of all kinds show this. And it is a fact that appetites are transmitted 

 from parents to offspring, So true is this, that the rational ration is a rare 

 thing on the table of the average family. But science, reduced to practice, 

 shows us that we can make ourselves fat or lean, as we please, by the kind 

 of food we eat and fluid we drink. A Mr. Banting, of England, was five 

 feet five inches in height, and weighed 202 pounds. In twelve months he 

 reduced his weight to 150 pounds. Yet, he did not starve. He used beef, 

 mutton, fish, bacon, dry toast and biscuit, poultry, game, tea, coffee, claret, 

 and sherry in small quantities, and wound up with a nightcap of gin, 

 whisky, brandy, or wine. He abstained from pork, veal, salmon, eels, her- 

 rings, sugar, milk, all sorts of vegetables grown underground, and nearly all 

 fatty and farinaceous substances. Daily he drank about forty ounces of 

 fluids. By reversing this order— eating what he abstained from and abstain- 

 ing from what he ate— he could easily reverse the results, and become fat 

 again. Such is the power of diet. 



Dr. George M. Beard, in his little book on " Eating and Drinking," gives 

 the following daily ration for the British soldier, on home dut^: 

 12 ounces of meat 



Total, 



24 



' ot bread. 



16 



' of potatoes. 



8 



' of other vegetables 



i 



' of coffee, 



0.16 ' 



' of te-i, 



1.3S ' 



' of sugar, 



3.25 ' 



' of milk, 



0.25 ' 



' of salt, 



65.32 oui 



ices. 



