92 
AMERICAN AGRICULTURIST, 
[March, 
or non-nitrogenous substances given in the fifth 
column. The sixth column gives the relative pro¬ 
portions of the Albuminoids to the Carbo-hydrates, 
which in the meadow hay is about 1 to 5, (or 8.2 to 
41.3). These amounts and proportions should he 
well understood, for they are important in com¬ 
bining these foddering materials to get the best re¬ 
sults in feeding for a particular purpose: 
Table 2. 
KINDS OF FODDER. 
100 Pounds Contain. 
OO 
I 
00 
©> 
<$ 
(a)—Hay. 
Meadow Hay, Common. 
Aftermath of same. 
Red Clover, cut in bloom.. 
Red Clover, cut ripe. 
White Clover, cut m bloom 
Timothy Hay. 
Average of all Grasses. 
(6)— Straw. 
Winter Wheat Straw. 
Winter Rye Straw.... 
Winter Barley Straw. 
Summer Barley Straw 
Oat Straw. 
(c)— Green Fodder 
Grass before bloom... 
Grass after bloom.... 
Red Clover in full bloom. 
Corn Stalks, end of Aug, 
Cabbages. 
Beet Leaves.... 
(d) —Roots and Tube 
Potatoes. 
Sugar Beets.... 
Carrots. 
Rutabagas. 
Turnips. 
Pumpkins. 
(e) —Grains and 
Winter Wheat.. 
Wheat Flour... 
Winter Rye. 
Winter Barley.. 
Summer Barley 
Oats. 
Indian Corn 
Buckwheat. 
Vetches. 
Field Beans 
Peas. 
Flax Seed... 
Rape Seed.. 
Hemp Seed. 
Cotton Seed 
(/)— Refuse 
Malt Sprouts 
Wheat Bran. 
Rye Bran.... 
Rape Cake... 
Linseed Cake 
Cotton-seed Cake. 
Seed 
s. Ibs. 
.3 6.2 
.3 6.5 
.7 6.2 
.7 5.6 
.7.8.5 
,3 4.5 
,3 5.8 
.3! 5.5 
.3,3.2 
.3 5.5 
,8' 7.0 
8 5.0 
. 0 ! 2.1 
.0 2.0 
.0 1.7 
.8 1.1 
.0 1.2 
. 5 ! 1.8 
0 0.9 
,5 0.8 
.0 1.0 
.0 1.0 
. 0 . 0.8 
5 1.0 
A 2.0 
6 0.7 
3 2.0 
lbs. Ibs.i lbs. 
I 
79.5 8.2 41.3 
79.2 9.5 45.7 
77.1 13.4 29.9 
77.7 9.4 20.3 
77.8 14.9,34.3 
81.2 9.7 48.8 
79.9 9.5 41.7 
The or¬ 
ganic 
matter 
cont’ins 
as nu¬ 
tritive 
Ingre¬ 
dients: 
CC I . 
• 'S 1 ©■2; 
3 -a q 
If S* 
.2 
82.5 
80.2 
78.7 
80.7 
22.9 
29.0 
20.3 
14.6 
9.8 
7.7 
24.0 
17.7 
14.0 
12.0 
7.2 
6.5 
2.0 30.2 
1.5 27.0 
2.0,29.8 
3.0 32.7 
2.0 38.2 
3.0^12.9 
2.5 15.0 
3.7 8.6 
0.9! 8.7 
1.5 6.3 
1.9, 4.5 
.1 13. 
.7 11 
83.7 11 
83.4 9 
83.1 
82.7 
83.5 
83.6 
83.4 
82.0 
83.2 
82.7 
85.1 
[83.6 
83.5 
2.0 21.0 
1.0 15.4 
1.510.8 
1.6 9.3 1 
1.1 5.1,1 
1.3' 4.2 1 
0,67.6 1 
8 74.2 1 
0 69.2 1 
0 65.9 1 
85.2 
81.8 
83.0 
76.6 28 
80.6 28 
,82.2 24 
5 66.6 
0 60.4 
0,68.0 
0 59.6 
5 49.2 
5 45.0 
4 51.6 
5 55.0 
4 55.4 
3 55.2 
8,44.7 
0 44.7 
0 50.0 
5 53.5 
3 33.5 
3 41.3 
6 36.8 
to 5. 
to 4.81 
to 2.23 
to 2 16 
to 2.30 
to 5. 
to 4.40 
to 15.10 
to 18. 
to 14.90 
to 10.90 
to 15.28 
to 4.30 
to 6. 
to 2.33 
to 9.67 
to 4.20 
to 2.37 
to 10.50 
to 15.40 
to 7.13 
to 5.81 
to 4.61 
to 3.25 
to 5.20 
to 6.28 
to 6.29 
to 7.32 
to 7. 
to 5. 
to 6.80 
to 6.62 
to 1.79 
to 1.76 
to 2.30 
to 2.68 
to 2.85 
to 3.30 
to 1.96 
to 1.94 
to 3.57 
to 3.69 
to 1.18 
to 1.46 
to 1.20 
The first and second columns of figures show how 
much water and ash are contained in each material. 
100 lbs. of turnips, for example, would yield about 92 
lbs. of water, and 13 ounces of ashes, and only a little 
over 7 lbs. of organic matter. Though the ash has its 
use in the food of animals, and especially as manure, it 
will suffice here to take account only of the organic 
matter in the third column, and more especially its in¬ 
gredients in the fourth and fifth columns, and the ratio 
of these in the sixth column. 
Let the reader fix well in mind the fact, that the 
albuminoids, those substances which contain nitro¬ 
gen, supply certain needs of the animal body, for 
which the carbo-hydrates, that are without nitro¬ 
gen, do not suffice; as, for instance, the formation 
of muscle, and the curd of milk. The organs of 
digestion and nutrition of an ox or a cow, can not 
make muscle or fat without the proper ingredients 
in the food out of which to make them. Experi¬ 
ence indicates in a general way what kinds of food 
are best for different purposes. But just here is 
where science is of great aid to practice. The won¬ 
derfully delicate weighing balances of the chemist 
and his accurate analyses, tell us exactly what ele¬ 
ments every part of the animal body is made of, 
and exactly what is found in every variety of mate¬ 
rial grown and used for animal food. At the Ex¬ 
periment Stations the workers take a lot of animals 
and feed them with the utmost care, watching 
every development, analyzing and weighing all the 
food, the excrement, and even the air they breathe 
to learn what escapes in that. They combine the 
different varieties of food in a great many ways, 
and with careful hands and skillful eyes, note the 
precise effects with marvellous accuracy. They 
have learned, for example, that a working ox, or a 
milk-giving cow, needs not only more food, but al¬ 
so food containing a larger proportion of albumi¬ 
noids than an ox at rest, or a dry cow. They have 
learned, for example, how much of different food 
materials an ox or a cow will digest, that is to say, 
how much is really nutritious and valuable as food, 
and how much is left to be useful only as manure. 
They have found, and this is a very important 
point, that when the albuminoids and carbo-hy¬ 
drates are not mixed in the proper proportions in 
the fodder, a part of the really digestible material 
will not be digested, but wasted. And they have 
learned how oil-cake, malt-sprouts, and many other 
waste products should be mixed in the food, so as 
to secure the most complete digestion; and even 
how cattle may be made to obtain a large amount 
of nutriment from straw, chaff, and like materials, 
of which many American farmers make little ac¬ 
count as fodder. Thus these careful experiments 
show how different kinds of food may be combined 
to secure the greatest profit from feeding. And 
the German farmers who unite these results with 
their own best experience, find a great practical 
saving therein—a saving in comparison with which 
the cost of the Experiment Stations is very slight. 
Science thus adds to the profits, and hence to the 
comfort, of farmers there, and will do so for us in 
proportion as we secure its aid.* 
The element, Nitrogen, which is so important in 
albuminoids of food, as well as in guano and other 
fertilizers, though so abundant in the air, seems, 
so to speak, to be chary of being caught in plants 
and soils, and it is the most costly element of 
foods, as well as of manures. Further, German 
experiments show that the albuminoids can do the 
work of the carbo-hydrates in the nutrition of the 
animal, to a greater extent than the carbo-hydrates 
can that of the albuminoids. Hence, the albumi¬ 
noids are the most valuable ingredients of food 
materials. The table above shows that 100 lbs. of 
medium meadow hay, contains about 8 lbs. of 
albuminoids ; 100 lbs of wheat straw contains only 
2 lbs., and 100 lbs. of turnips less than 1 lb., and 
so on. The table shows that in common hay the 
ratio of albuminoids to carbo-hydrates, is about 
1 to 5. Experience and experiment agree that hay 
is a good fodder, and this in a proper proportion 
for ordinary feeding. But milch cows do rather 
better on clover, in which the ratio is 1 to 2 l / 2 . So 
also a food richer in nitrogen is better adapted to 
oxen at hard work, and to fattening cattle. On 
the contrary, a dry cow or an ox at rest, would 
require only about 1 lb. of albuminoids, to 8 of 
carbo-hydrates. Straw of oats, wheat, or rye, cut 
when it is still tinged with green, and the “ kernel 
is in the milk,” contains these in the ratio of about 
1 to from 13 to 18. 
Accurate experiments many times repeated, have 
shown that oxen, or cows, or sheep, will digest 
and appropriate nearly as much from a pound 
of straw, as from a pound of good timothy or 
clover hay. But this digested material from the 
straw contains only very little albuminoids, and 
further, it will not be all digested unless some ni¬ 
trogenous materia] is mixed with the straw. With 
a food mixture of straw and enough nitrogenous 
bean meal, to give a ratio of 1 to 8, oxen at rest 
in the stable are found to digest about one-half 
of the material of the straw, and all the meal. The 
chemistry of these facts, which arc of incalculable 
value to farmers, we will explain in succeeding 
articles, and hasten now to give some practical 
directions for applying them. 
The Science of “Rational Foddering ” is indeed yet 
in its infancy, but rapid progress is making, and we 
want a score of Experiment Stations in this coun¬ 
try to push on investigations, so that the present 
generation of farmers may have the full benefit of 
[*If our farmers feed only $500,000,000 worth of grain, 
grass, hay, and other forage in a year, and science can 
teach them to save but 2 per cent of it by teaching how 
to feed most economically, there is a saving of $10,000,- 
000 a year, and there is no doubt that this can be done— an 
average saving of over a quarter of a million dollars to 
each State. As soon as people understand this fact, the 
State Board of Agriculture of Connecticut, or any other 
State, will not have to work a year or two or more to get 
an appropriation of a paltry five or ten thousand dollars 
to set up an Experiment Station to make the needed ex¬ 
periments to show farmers how to make this saving, or 
increase their profit by so much.— Eds.] 
the developments. But we have some help already. 
Dr. Wolff, director of the Experiment Station at 
Hohenheim, in Germany, who has conducted a 
great many careful feeding experiments, and is, 
perhaps, the first European authority in these 
matters, gives from his own and hundreds of other 
investigations, coupled with the best results of 
farm experience, the following proportions of food 
ingredients as appropriate for daily rations for the 
animals and purposes specified. These rations 
are calculated for each 1,000 pounds of live weight 
of the animals. The crude fiber (in straw and 
hay) are useful in giving proper bulk or “ballast ” 
to the food, and are to some extent digested also. 
Table 3. 
This Org’.mic i i 
matter consists »/*o. 
Fob Daily Feed or Ra- 
o . 
,°p 
■ 3 
TION FOB EACH 1000 D>S. 
Live Weight of the 
S £ 
ll 
. 
'e 
I| 
© . 
Bo 
©’©r© 
.©•2 £ « 
following Animals. 
cs; 
O 
1*1 
as. 
as. 
as. 
Ibs. 
lbs. 
1. Oxen at rest in stall. 
J4 1 
6 
.9 
7.2 
0. 
1 to 8. 
2. Oxen at moderate work... 
21. 
9 
1.85 
10.15 
0. 
1 to 5.5 
3. Oxen at severe work. 
25, 
10 
2.8 
12.4 
0. 
1 to 4.4 
4. Milch Cows in -winter. 
24. 
9 
2.5 
12,5 
0. 
1 to 5. 
5. Richer Ration for same... 
25 
10 
3 
12, 
0. 
1 to 4. 
6. For Fattening Cattle. 
23 K 
6 
3.2 
14.3 
1.2 
1 to 4.5 
7. For Growing Sheep. 
24. 
10.3 
1.96 
11.8 
0. 
1 to 6. 
8. For Fattening Sheep. 
23. 
5 
3.6 114.4 
1. 
1 to 4. 
It will be seen that an ox at rest needs only 1 lb. 
albuminoids to 8 lbs. of carbo-hydrates; a working 
ox or milch cow requires a double quantity of albu¬ 
minoids, for producing muscular work, or milk. 
Now we are prepared to understand something of 
the reasons for the following tables, in which are 
given a few of the scores of combinations of food 
which German farmers constantly have by them, to 
use in judging how they shall best use, combine, and 
feed, such kinds of food as they have on hand or 
can best buy. We repeat that these tables are the 
results of many hundreds of the most extended 
and careful trials at the Experiment Stations, where 
every possible aid of chemistry and practical test, 
have been brought into requisition : 
Table 4.—Giving a Daily Ration or Feed tor 
the Animals named. 
I .—For full grown Oxen not at Work. 
A [ or B 
1 M Ibs. Clover Hay 1 3 Ibs. Clover Hay 
13 lbs. Barley Straw 13 lbs. Whea4 Straw 
25 lbs. Beets |20 lbs. Turnips 
lb. Rape Cake I 
or C 
5 lbs. Meadow Hay 
7 lbs. Oat Straw 
5 lbs. Wheat Chaff 
5 lbs. Potatoes 
II.—For full grown Oxen at moderate Work. 
D i or E I or F 
12 lbs. Meadow Hay 9 Ibs. Clover Hay [10 Ibs. Clover Hay 
13 lbs. Oat Straw 10 lbs. Rye Straw 14 Ibs. Oat Straw 
2 lbs. Oil Cake 22 lbs. Potatoes ^20 lbs. Beets 
III.- 
G 
12 lbs. Meadow Hay 
12 Ibs. Barley Straw 
4 lbs. Clover Hay 
4 lbs. Bean Meal 
For full grown Oxen at severe Work. 
or H SI I .or I 
14 lbs. Meadow Hay 
7 lbs. Clover Hay 
9 lbs. Oat Straw 
2 lbs. Oil Cake 
15 lbs. Meadow Hay 
8 lbs. Clover Hay 
6 lbs. Wheat Straw 
3 lbs. Wheat Bran 
K 
12 lbs. Meadow Hay 
11 lbs. Barley Straw 
15 lbs. Potatoes 
3 lbs. Oil Cake 
or HI 
10 lbs. Clover Hay 
10 lbs. Barley Straw 
23 lbs. Potatoes 
3 lbs. Wheat Bran 
IV.—For Cows giving Milk. 
or Tj 
10 Ibs. Meadow Hay : 
12 tbs. Wheat Straw 
50 lbs. Turnips. 
3 Ibs. Malt Sprouts! 
or N I or O I or P 
6 lbs. Timothy Hay 50 lbs. Green Cloyer[36 Ibs. Green Clover 
80 lbs. Green Clover,60 lbs. Green Corn [SO lbs. Green Corn 
5 lbs. Wheat Straw Stalks Stalks 
I 8 lbs. Barley Straw! 7 B>s. Rye Straw 
A Richer Fodder for Same. 
10 lbs. Clover Hay 
10 Bis. Oat Straw 
5 lbs. Barley Chaff 
30 Ibs. Turnips 
3 Bis. Oil Cake 
or R 
12 Bis. Clover Hay 
10 lbs. Barley Straw 
5 Bis. Wheat Chaff 
20 tbs. Turnips 
2 lbs. Bean Meal 
or S 
10 lbs. Lucerne Hay 
9 lbs. Oat Straw 
5 lbs. Timothy Hay 
13 Bis. Turnips 
5 lbs. Malt Sprouts 
Note that the above tables are not for following 
exactly, but as indicating what 'proportions will give 
the best and most profitable results. The three 
tables a, b, c, each give about the same combina¬ 
tion and amounts of albuminoids, carbo-hydrates, 
and fiber, and so of the other separate tables under 
eacli class of animals. Most of the substances 
named are obtainable by American farmers. In 
using the above tables, barley, wheat, rye, and 
oat straw can be substituted for each other. 
Either turnips or beets can be used, and either 
rape-cake, linseed-cake, or cotton-seed-cake as 
oil-cake or meal. The Germans cultivate largely 
linseed, vetches, etc., and their tables usually 
include these. We propose to give a much 
larger series of tables hereafter, fifty to a hundred 
of them perhaps, with such explanations as will 
make them useful to our farmers. But we ought 
to have Experiment Stations actively at work in 
several of our States, to produce results exactly 
adapted to American farming. 
