754 
THE RURAL NEW-YORKER 
THE BALANCED RATION.” 
TIIK SCIENCE OF FEEDING STOCK. 
Part V. 
I hope that those who are interested in 
these articles, will keep these papers or 
pages for reference. We are spend¬ 
ing a good deal of time and space over 
this part of the work, and we don’t want 
to be obliged to go over and over it, 
time and again. 
Now, while our readers are weighing 
out that daily ration they are feeding to 
the cows, we will take up another 
branch of the subject. Of course, you 
will help us by weighing out one day’s 
feeding! We will guarantee that the 
time spent in doing it will pay you big 
dividends. No one can get a true bal¬ 
ance without a pair of scales ! Besides 
finding out how much fat and fat-formers 
you are wasting by feeding a scant meas¬ 
ure of muscle-makers, you will see how 
easy it is to neglect a cow some day by 
hasty feeding or a light “forkful” of 
fodder. You cannot understand “ The 
Balanced Ration ” as you ought until you 
take your own actual practice as a basis 
for figuring. Know that first, and then 
study how to remedy its defects. We 
now understand the theory and arithmetic 
of balancing a ration. That is not half 
of it. The praetical side is far more im¬ 
portant, and here is where a man’s own 
brains must come in. In a general way, 
the “ standard ration ” or “ nutritive ra¬ 
tio ” of muscle-makers to fat-formers, 
is all right, and you cannot do bet¬ 
ter to start than by rearranging your 
foods so as to give about that pro¬ 
portion. But all animals are not 
alike in their powers of digestion (“im¬ 
proved breeding” is largely improvement 
in ability to assimilate food); neither are 
all muscle-makers or fats alike in their 
effect on the animal’s system. There¬ 
fore, before w^e drop this subject, we 
wi.sh to talk about digestion —what ac¬ 
tually happens to the food after it goes 
into the animal’s mouth. We also wish 
to consider the effects of various foods, 
as well as their general characteristics. 
We give notice of this because we want 
you to think ahead and see that, in 
changing from one food to another, we 
must know, not only the amounts of 
muscle-makers and fat, but also the 
effect of that new food on the system or 
on the butter. A man might be paying 
25 cents a pound for beefsteak, and read 
somewhere that muscle-makers would 
cost only half as much in the form of 
beans. Suppose that he switched right 
away from steak and ate beans instead. 
He might make himself sick, though the 
actual amount of muscle-makers would 
be the same. In like manner, you will 
not add linseed or gluten or cotton-seed 
meal until you know how these new 
foods will act on the animal. The theory 
of balancing a ration would leave all 
that out. The practical side balances 
the theory. 
I have taken pains to state that the 
ratio of one part muscle-makers to 5 2-5 
of fat-formers, is the result of many 
German experiments. Some American 
authorities claim that in most parts of 
this country, cows fed to produce butter 
might, w'ith profit, be fed a greater pro¬ 
portion of the fatty foods. Prof. F. W. 
Woll, of the Wisconsin Experiment Sta¬ 
tion (Madison,) collected the facts about 
100 actual rations that were being fed to 
dairy cows. Rations were selected from 
herds owned by intelligent men who 
understood something of the chemistry 
of feeding. Most of them probably 
started with the German standard, and 
added this or that quantity of food as 
the cows showed improvement in actual 
results or as prices for food changed. 
An average of all these 100 rations, gave 
these amounts of uutriments per cow, 
Mu.scle-makers, 2.15 pounds ; fat-formers, 
1.3.27, and pure fat, .74—the nutritive 
ratio being one part mu.scle-makers to 
1:6.9 fat-formers. This ratio varied in 
individual cases, all the way from 1 to 4 
to 1 to IX. We think, therefore, that 
the individual character of the cow and 
the kind of food, must all be considered. 
Our belief is that the use of ensilage, 
roots or other succulent foods, tends to 
reduce the amounts of muscle-makers 
needed, and thus makes a cheaper ra¬ 
tion. The ensilage seems to make the 
muscle-makers in heavy grain rations 
more digestible, so that less is pa.ssed 
through the animal as manure than 
would have been the case if all dry food 
had been fed. We think that the facts 
will bear us out in stating that, with 
dry hay and grain, the proportion of 
muscle-makers to fat-formers must be 
closer than when ensilage or other suc¬ 
culent food can be fed. As the muscle- 
makers are by far the most expensive 
part of stock food, we can see another 
great advantage in so using some form 
of juicy food. 
Now let us take up a few of these ra¬ 
tions, as given by Prof. Woll, and see 
how they compare with the weighings 
we have made in our own barn. Bear 
in mind that these are actual rations, 
really fed. 
1. Ration per cow, 35 pounds of ensilage, 10 of 
hay, 3 of bran, 3 of corn-and-cob meal, 2 of cotton¬ 
seed meal, and 2 of gluten meal. This herd con¬ 
sists of 32 Jerseys, in Connecticut, averaging 900 
pounds weight, which averaged on this heavy 
feeding 375 pounds of butter per year. 
2. Ration, 15 pounds of mixed clover and Timothy 
hay (half of each), 12 of corn-and-cob meal, 8 of 
bran, each of linseed and cotton-seed meal. 
This was fed to Brown Swiss cows in Illinois, 
averaging 1,400 pounds each, and yielding over 
400 pounds of butter per year. 
3. Ration, 300 pounds of ensilage, 5 of clover hay, 
3 of corn fodder, 1 each of oat and wheat straw, 
5 of bran, 2 of oil meal, and 2 of cotton-seed meal. 
This was fed to a herd of 20 Jerseys, averaging 800 
pounds weight. The cows averaged 300 pounds 
of butter. The hay, straw and fodder were all 
cut to ^-inch pieces, mixed with feed and steamed 
by pouring boiling water over the mass. 
4. Ration, 50 pounds of sorghum fodder, 7*4 
pounds of hay, 3 1-5 each of bran and corn meal, 
and 1)4 of oil meal. This was fed to a herd of 
Holsteins, in Kansas, weighing 1,300 pounds each 
and kept for breeding and milk. Fed while on 
short pasture. The owner says that he will not 
keep a cow that will not give, when fresh, 50 
pounds of milk per day on dry food, or 60 on grass 
and grain. Bran costs only $10 per ton, and oil 
meal $28. The sorghum makes a good feed, though 
perhaps too fattening for dairy animals. 
5. Ration, 50 pounds of ensilage, 5 of hay, 4 of 
bran, 2 of linseed meal, 1 each of cotton-seed meal 
and ground rye. This was fed to a New York 
State herd of 60 Jerseys, averaging 800 pounds in 
weight, and yielding 250 pounds of butter per 
cow. 
6 . Ration, 25 pounds of clover hay, 34 of roots, 
3 of corn-and-cob meal, 1)4 of oats, 2 of bran. This 
was fed to a herd of large Short-horns weighing 
1,2(X) pounds, and kept for beef, milk and butter— 
a “general-purpose” herd. 
7. Ration, 10 imunds of clover hay, five of Tim¬ 
othy, 2)4 of corn fodder, 6 of corn meal, 2 of oats, 
3 1-5 of bran, 1)4 of oil meal, 15 of carrots. This 
was fed to a herd of Jerseys kept for milk and 
breeding. The hay and fodder were steamed. 
8 . Ration, 25 pounds of roots, 8 of oat meal, 3 of 
oil meal, 15 of hay, 10 of corn fodder, 4 of oat straw. 
This was fed to large Short-horn cows, with straw, 
hay and fodder all cut and steamed. 
9. Ration, 50 pounds of ensilage, 5 of sheaf oats, 
5 of corn fodder, 1 each of clover hay and millet, 
2.7 of cotton-seed meal, 1.3 of oil-meal, 6 of bran. 
This was fed to a mixed Wisconsin herd weighing 
1,150 pounds, and averaging 325 pounds of butter 
per year. 
Now let us see how these rations bal¬ 
ance. The following table shows what 
each daily ration contains. Remember 
that the pure fat is multiplied by 2>^ and 
added to the fat-formers : 
Muscle- Fat- Pure Nutritive 
makers, formers. Fat. ratio. 
1 . 2.69 13.96 0.97 1:5.6 
2 . 2.37 12.06 0.75 1:5.8 
3 . 3.24 12.94 1.07 1:4.7 
4 . 1.36 10.43 0.48 1:8.5 
5 . 2.39 14.99 1.07 1:7.3 
6 . 1.72 9.07 0.47 1:5.9 
7 . 2.60 17.47 0.90 1:7.5 
8 . 2.11 14.43 0.70 1:7.6 
9 . 2.73 12.46 0.99 1:5.4 
Now, there we have a \t eek’s food for 
thought. You will notice several things 
that are made quite clear. In the case 
of No. 4, the cows were on short pasture 
with the sorghum fodder scattered on 
the ground. Therefore the cows secured 
more actual nutriment than the table 
would indicate. 
1. Where mostly dry hay and grain 
are fed, a greater proportion of muscle- 
makers seems to be needed. Chopping 
and steaming the hay appears to improve 
the digestibility of the ration. 
2. For breeding stock not pushed hard 
for either milk or butter, but kept in 
thriving condition only, a much wider 
ratio will answer than in ca.ses where 
large yields of butter are wanted. There 
were many such herds, and that is one 
reason why the average ratio was so 
wide. 
3. The best yields seem to be made on 
rations somewhere near one part of 
muscle-makers to six of fat-formers, 
and there must be close to 2X pounds of 
mu.scle-makers, no matter what the 
amount of fat-formers. 
4. Most of these rations were evidently 
made up by men who wanted the cheaj}- 
est pound of butter they could make with 
the materials easily obtained, rather 
than the greatest record their cows were 
capable of making. A cow might be fed 
so as to give more butter, but the cost of 
the extra food might greatly increase 
the actual cost of the butter, and a 
smaller yield would be more profitable. 
5. You will notice that the best of 
these rations are composed of a good 
many different things—the grain ration 
is usually a mixture of several kinds. 
This seems to be the case wherever the 
best returns are secured per cow. Very 
few of the better class of dairymen now 
feed on a single kind of grain. 
Now you see how important it is for 
you to toioiv what you are feeding. Weigh 
the ration and compare it with these. 
Also figure out which would be the cheap¬ 
est of these nine rations at the prices for 
hay and grain in your market. 
To sum things up, in theory, if we 
wanted a large yield of milk or butter, 
we would try to get a ratio of about one 
to six to start with, and experiment with 
one or two average cows to see if they 
will do better with more or less muscle- 
makers—always considering the cost of 
the ration. 
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Ration for Hogs and Cows. 
As a practical illustration of the pos¬ 
sibilities in the way of mixing foods, the 
following letter is interesting. You will 
all remember the question asked on page 
728. This shows how these articles can 
be mixed : 
With wheat bran at 318, buckw’heat 
middlings at 315, and cabbage at 36 per 
ton, a good ration for brood sows may 
be made as follows : 
10 pounds cabbage. 
Muscle- 
makers. 
. .24 
Fat- 
formers. 
0.54 
Pure 
fat. 
.04 
4 pounds -wheat bran.. 
. .54 
1.79 
.13 
2 pounds buckw’t mds.. 
,. .58 
1.72 
.14 
2 pounds corn meal.... 
. .16 
1.30 
.09 
This would make a properly balanced 
ration for a 300-pound brood sow, and 
would cost about 10 cents per day. En¬ 
silage could be substituted for cabbage, 
and make a cheaper ration. The above 
ratio is 1 to 4.2, which is about right for 
brood sows. 
A well-balanced ration for butter-mak¬ 
ing might be made as follows : 
16 lbs. clover and T. hay., 
Muscle- 
makers. 
. .83 
Fat- 
formers. 
6.83 
Pure 
fat. 
.17 
3 lbs. buckwheat mds.., 
. .87 
2.58 
.21 
6 lbs. wheat bran., 
. .75 
2.55 
.15 
.08 
0.64 
.04 
Total. 
. 2.53 
12.60 
.57 
Ratio, 1 to 5.5. 
Pumpkins are very good for either 
cows or hogs, hut I have omitted them 
from the above rations. I have never 
fed cabbage to milch cows, as they might 
affect the flavor of the butter. 
Mannsville, N. Y. geo. staplin jr. 
R. N.-Y.—Our present plan for con¬ 
ducting ‘ ‘ Primer Science ” is thoroughly 
to finish the “ Balanced Ration ” articles 
and then take up in much the same way, 
“ What Is Soil ? ” “ What Is a Plant ? ” 
“ How the Plant Gets Its Dinner,” “ A 
Square Meal for Plants,” and so on. All 
this will take time, hut in the end we 
hope to make the subject clear. 
OTSl4KARaT, 
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THE 
Cow5 Demand 
that their owners shall make effort to educate them¬ 
selves in Dairy Truth. For years they have furnished 
the main revenue of the farm, and now demand that 
the owner Invest one dollar a year as a subscription 
to HoAiui’s Dairyman, that he may receive the 
varied experiences and teachings of the most success¬ 
ful dairy farmers in the country. 
THE 
Cows Deserve 
your attention on this matter and appeal to you 
for more intelligent care, feeding and breeding, and 
handling of their products. They want you to recog¬ 
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creasing your knowledge you Increase your revenue, 
and in other ways make your life worth living. Dairy 
farming is like handling edged tools that cut only 
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THE 
Cows Are Right! 
And common sense demands that every farmer who 
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least a dollar a year for his own guidance and Instruc¬ 
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Dairyman are practical men trained in the dairy 
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