FORTY-SECOND ANNUAL. CONVENTION 275 



ficient material in her feed to produce 30 pounds of milk a day, 

 but on account of lacking protein produces but 15 pounds, it is 

 useless to further increase the fat-producing material and ex- 

 pect the flow of milk to be increased. The surplus fat in the feed 

 will not be put into the milk and make it unusually rich. 



As an aid in properly balancing the rations, it is useful to 

 divide our common feeds into two classes : Class i, or those feeds 

 which contain a large amount of fat producing material, carbo- 

 hydrates and fat, but which are notably deficient in protein. In 

 this class we have : corn, corn fodder, corn silage, timothy hay, 

 oat straw, wheat straw, millet hay, sorghum hay. 



Class 2 contains a much larger proportion of protein, the 

 essential growth and milk producing elements, and smaller quan- 

 tities of the fat making materials. It includes : clover hay, al- 

 falfa hay, cowpea hay, bran, oats, cottonseed meal, gluten meal, 

 linseed meal, soy beans. 



A properly balanced ration will, therefore, include some of 

 the feeds from each of these two lists. A ration of silage, tim- 

 othy hay and corn is not a balanced ration. Neither is a ration 

 of corn fodder, corn and oats. Both lack protein. 



Legume Hays. — The cheapest source of protein is generally 

 legume hays, including clover, alfalfa and cowpea hay. If an 

 abundance of any one of these hays is on hand, the problem of 

 making an economical balanced ration is very much simplified. 

 The use of these hays makes it unnecessary to buy any large 

 quantities of bran, oil meal or cottonseed meal for ordinary dairy 

 cows, and makes it possible that the principal grain used be corn, 

 which usually is our cheapest grain. Even cowpea or alfalfa hay 

 alone, with corn for grain, makes a fairly good ration for an 

 ordinary dairy cow, and such a ration could be substituted with 

 good results for that of timothy hay and corn fodder. If hay is 

 to be sold it should be timothy hay and not clover or cowpea hay. 



Succulent feeds. — By the term succulent feed is meant feed 

 having that property possessed by green grass. Such feed has 

 a value outside of the actual nutrients it contains on account of 

 its favorable effect upon the digestion of the animal. There are 

 two metohds in use for supplying this succulent feed during the 



