250 ILLINOIS STATE DAIRYMEN'S ASSOCIATION 



or high-protein, class includes the various legume hays such as 

 alfalfa, the clovers, cowpea, soy bean, and oat and pea. Econo- 

 my in feeding demands that grain should supplement the rough- 

 age, consequently the grain mixtures will be compounded to fit 

 the class to which the roughage belongs. 



Compounding a Grain Mixture. 



A few simple rules for making up a grain mixture are 

 given briefly below : 



I — Make up the mixture to fit the roughage available. 

 With roughage entirely of low-protein class the grain should 

 contain approximately from i8 to 22 per cent of protein, while) 

 with exclusively high-protein roughage the grain ration need 

 contain only about 13 to 16 per cent. 



2 — Select grains that will furnish the various constituents, 

 especially protein, at the least cost, using home-grown grains if 

 possible. 



3 — Be sure that the mixture is light and bulky. 



4 — The mixture should be palatable. 



5 — See that the grain has the proper physiological efifect 

 upon the cow. 



All these suggestions should be kept in mind in order to ob- 

 tain the best possible combination of grains. For the conven- 

 ience of the feeder Table 5, showing the digestible protein con- 

 tent of the more common grains and by-products feeds, is gi^cn. 

 The per cent columns are arranged in 5 per cent divisions. 



