69o 
THE RURAL NEW-YORKER. 
October 27 
Primer Science. 
“THE BALANCED RATION” 
TDK SCIENCE OF FEP:DING STOCK. 
Part I, 
Will The R. N -Y. (?ive an ignorant 
farmer, who is anxious to learn, some 
light on the properties and use of the 
different elements of wheat, corn, etc , 
as shown by analysis ? I have a table 
that is probably nearly correct but am 
not able to put it to intelligent use be¬ 
cause I don’t understand the properties, 
and the uses which the stock make, of 
the various elements. john. 
Athens County, Ohio. 
I have what is called a liberal educa¬ 
tion, yet “ albuminoids and non-albu- 
minoids, carbohydrates, etc.,” often as I 
see them, do not seem simple, even yet, 
and require an effort of the mind to 
grasp them. I think that, to many, they 
convey few ideas, if any. Some genius 
will sometime render them into plain 
and suggestive Anglo-Saxon, that ail of 
us can understand. G. s p. 
The R. N.-Y. undertakes this job with 
many misgivings. When we think of the 
hundreds of books and pamphlets that 
have been written on this subject by 
learned men, we can hardly feel hopeful 
of adding much to the discussion. We 
are j ast going to try to put the thing into 
simple language—that’s all. If, as we go 
along, some point comes up that is not 
clear, or, if you want further information 
regarding it, we shall be pleased to have 
you write and ask questions. We want 
to discuss this thing so thoroughly that, 
when it is over, if you don’t know what 
a “ balanced ration” is, it will be your 
own fault through your failure to inquire 
and find oat. Of course this thing can¬ 
not all be done in one column or article. 
We shall take time and space for details. 
What is a “ balanced ration ?” We 
may liken it to what is called ‘‘ a square 
meal” for a man. Most men are fond of 
goed beefsteak. Let us suppose you 
had beef and nothing else, meal after 
meal, for a month. You would not only 
hate the taste of it, but your health 
would be poor. Savages may live fairly 
well on a diet of meat, but civilized men 
cannot do it. Suppose you add potatoes 
to the beef. No argument is needed to 
prove that the combination would be 
better than the beef alone. Add good 
bread and butter, and the effect would 
be better yet, and so on with the other 
articles of food that go to make the 
“square meal.” 
Now the trouble with the beefsteak 
alone is that it is unbalanced—that is, it 
contains too much of the nutriment that 
gees to make muscle, and too little of 
that which makes fat. The potatoes, 
bread, butter, etc., supply this fat-pro¬ 
ducing food in such quantities that they 
form just the right proportions with the 
muscle-makers in the steak, and that 
makes what we call a balanced ration. 
Later on, when we come to give the 
chemist’s analysis of steak, potatoes, 
etc., you will see this clearer. Just now. 
the point we ask you to remember is that 
all food is made up of many different 
substances like starch, wax, gum, oil, 
etc. Some of these have the power, 
after being digested, to make in the body 
what we call lean meat, or the tough, 
hard strings called muscles. Others can 
only be made into the fat of the body, or 
be used to produce animal or bodily heat. 
Our readers who have studied physi¬ 
ology, will know about this, but later on 
we shall try to explain it still further. 
Most people have a sort of instinctive 
idea about this difference in the work of 
food substances. We have often heard 
very ignorant men say, “ Well, sweet 
makes fat and sour makes lean.” That 
meant that they recognized the fact that 
certain substances in their food tended 
to make them fat, while other foods and 
substances made them feel strong and 
muscular. Let us understand, then, as 
the very foundation point of the “bal¬ 
anced ration,” that all kinds of fodder 
and all kinds of grain contain food sub¬ 
stances that may be divided into two 
great classes—those that make lean meat 
and muscle, and those that make fat. 
The science of feeding is to combine 
these substances in the best proportion. 
Any one can see that if we give a cow 
too much fat-producing food, and too 
little of the muscle-makers, the cow’s 
muscles must, sooner or later, become 
weakened from lack of repairs ; while if 
we double the amount of this food, and 
thus give enough muscle-making mate¬ 
rial, the extra fat will be fed at a loss. 
The chemists have picked stock foods in 
pieces and shown us how much they con¬ 
tain of these muscle and fat-makers. 
Next week we shall see what names we 
may get for them, and how they may be 
combined. 
Green Crop Manure — You speak 
often of the elements of plants like 
Crimson and other clovers, as of special 
value for a fertilizer. I experimented 
last year, and plowed under strawberry 
beds and sowed sorghum which grew to 
a height of six to seven feet, and was also 
plowed under before frost came. The 
result is that the land is rich, mellow 
and fine this year. In locking over 
station reports, sorghum has nearly 
8 per cent protein, 56.15 nitrogen free 
extract, and 26.73 fiber. Does that in¬ 
dicate a good proportion of elements for 
soil fertility ? u u. G. 
R. N -Y.—This question well illustrates 
the need of simple facts about science. 
You see this reader has mixed up the 
value of these plants for stock feeding 
with the value for manuring. As we 
shall explain in talking about the “ bal¬ 
anced ration,” the terms given above re¬ 
fer to feeding substances. The value of 
the sorghum for manuring the land, 
would be determined by the amounts of 
nitrogen, potash and phosphoric acid in 
it—not by the food that cattle could find 
in it. The value of a green crop plowed 
into the soil does not entirely depend on 
the actual fertility. It loosens up the 
ground, lets in the air and water, and 
provides humus or vegetable matter so 
that its mechanical effect on the soil is 
good. 
Potash Will “ Last.” —Which is the 
most lasting form of potash to use as a 
fertilizer ? I have used raw bone meal 
or bone dust, and muriate on wheat and 
grass seeding, but have lately noticed a 
statement to the effect that muriate lasts 
but one year. Is this so ? My soil is 
mostly rather heavy, s. D. 
Oak Hill, N. Y. 
R. N.-Y.—There is practically no dif¬ 
ference in the “ lasting power ” of dif¬ 
ferent forms of potash. They are all 
soluble in water but, unlike nitrogen, 
are not washed out of the soil because 
the potash forms new combinations with 
the soil particles. Thus it will not be 
washed away, while at the same time 
the roots of the plants can utilize it. 
That is why it is considered safe to apply 
potash in the fall with no fear that it 
will be washed away as nitrogen would 
be. Muriate will last until used up by 
the plants. _ 
HOW TO READ AGRICULTURAL PAPERS. 
The publishers of many agricultural 
papers are continually calling the atten¬ 
tion of their readers to the fact that in 
order to become a first-class, progressive 
farmer, it is necessary to read one or 
more gcoi agricultural publications. 
This is all right so far as it goes ; but I 
do not think that all those who take ag¬ 
ricultural papers, know how to read 
them intelligently, and there should be 
just as much exertion put forth in this 
direction, as there is in securing the 
readers. It may result in the end in ob¬ 
taining permanent subscribers. I would 
think it just as much a hardship to give 
up my farm papers as I would to give up 
my family horse. I find, lo'vever, that 
it is just as necessary to have as much 
system about reading my agricultural 
papers—and I take four of the best pub¬ 
lished—as there is in any branch of 
farming, and by doitg so I make jast as 
much money out of it, indirectly. 
I have provided myself with an indexed 
ledger, and when my papers come each 
week, I glance through them to see if 
there is any article bearing directly upon 
the work I have in hand ; if so, I read it 
to see if I can make any improvement in 
planting or harvesting my crop. Then 
in the evening, or when I have time to 
read, I pick up one of the papers and 
read each article carefully. If I find 
anything that strikes me favorably, I 
mark the article with a cross, and turn¬ 
ing to my index book, write the heading 
of the article and the date and page 
of the paper under the proper letter 
For instance, if the article is on feeding 
wheat, I tarn to “P” and write, “ Feed¬ 
ing Wheat. Rural New-Yorker, Sep¬ 
tember 15, 1894, page 595.” In the next 
article, I might not find anything that 
would prove of value to me in the future, 
and of course would not mark it. Tne 
article following, however, might be 
written by some one who bad experi¬ 
mented on Crimson clover, and as I w'.sh 
to secure as much information as postible 
cn this subject, I mark the article and 
index it under the letter “C” as Clover — 
Crimson. Rural New-Yorker, Septem¬ 
ber 15. 1894, page 596. In this way, I go 
through my four papers, and after read¬ 
ing them I file them carefully in separate 
covers for future use. 
Now comes the useful part of my sys¬ 
tem. Supposing, for example, that I 
desire to plant a certain field to pota¬ 
toes. I wish to profit by the successes 
and failures of as many farmers as possi¬ 
ble, who have attempted to raise this 
profitable crop. I turn to my index, and 
under the letter “P ’ I find probably 15 
or 20 references on the subject of pota¬ 
toes. It takes but a moment to find 
each article, as I have name of paper, 
date and page right before me. I read 
each article through, and study the con¬ 
ditions to see if they will apply to my 
own in the way of soil, climate, etc- 
After reading them all, I have a very 
good idea of what I may expect if I use 
210 pounds of phosphate to the acre, or 
if I use barnyard manure instead of 
phosphate. Thus I profit by the old say¬ 
ing that “two heads are better than 
one,” and I seldom make a failure. 
Besides this, I have my own “experi¬ 
ment patch,” and in this way do not 
have to depend entirely upon others; 
but I find that by profiting by the ex¬ 
perience of others, I gain a vast amount 
of knowledge which I cou’d secure in no 
other way than through the farm papers. 
Cleveland. f. h. 
THl MIRIIIT GIRDm I 
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