264 ILLINOIS STATE DAIRYMEN'S ASSOCIATION. 



increased to 16 pounds at the end of sixty days, making the 

 average ration 14 pounds each, the straw in each case serving 

 to keep a proper distension of the stomach, thus insuring a per- 

 fect digestion. 



I wish here to say a word in relation to cooked and espe- 

 cially ground food, with hay or straw, cooked all together. If 

 long followed with working or hungry animals it will cer- 

 tainly impair digestion, from imperfect salivation in mastica- 

 tion. In the case of animals that are being ripened (fattened) 

 for the butcher, the proposition will not hold good, for two, 

 three ard four months will finish the animal ready for slaughter. 



To summarize the whole matter in relation to what consti- 

 tutes a balanced ratiou, we must remember that two leading 

 elements characterize all foods and give to them a corresponding 

 designation. These elements are carbon and nitrogen, and 

 the designations are carbonaceous and nitrogenous. The min- 

 eral elements, the ash of plants are generally found in sufficient 

 quantity in all mixed rations. The carbonaceous foods are those 

 in which the element of carbon is in excess of the proper quan- 

 tity for a balanced ration. The nitrogenous foods are those in 

 which nitrogen is in excess. The balance for milk production 

 and for practical work ought to be about one part of nitrogen 

 to four parts of carbon in summer, and one part of nitrogen to 

 six parts of carbon in the winter, when more carbon is required 

 to keep up the temperature of the body. This makes an aver- 

 age ration consist of one part of nitrogen to five parts of carbon, 

 which may be considered a well-balanced fall and spring ration. 

 Economy in feeding, as well as the health and comfort of the ani- 

 mal, requires that the food given for the day should be so pro- 

 portioned as to afford the proper amount of carbon and nitro- 

 gen and thus constitute a truly balanced ration. If each fodder- 

 ing is not so balanced, one foddering may balance another. To 

 approximate this balance requires a knowledge on the part of 

 the feeder of the character of the food at his command. Such 

 knowledge should be a part of the education of every man who 

 raises stock of any kind. He cannot practice true economy 

 without it. 



