I 
ILLINOIS STATE DAIRYMEN’S ASSOCIATION. 
73 
estimating the value of the root crop, no account is taken of the often enhanced 
flue of the food, owing to its succulence. We know that often human beings crave 
ich food as apples, grapes, pears, etc., and the value of such cannot be cimputed 
om the amount of nourishment they give. The benefit derived from a few feeds of 
jets or rutabagas to a feverish animal may be of far greater value to it than a large 
nount of grain, though the latter may contain the most nourishment. Nor can the 
lestion of palatability be here decided. That can only be determined by the farmer 
ho has both the stock and the feed before him. The values assigned are those for 
ie various food articles, when they are so fed that all the nutritive elements are ex¬ 
acted by the animal. Thus the comparative high value assigned to straw is not 
iat which straw has when fed alone, but when it is so fed along with other foods rich 
albuminoids that all the digestible carbohydrates are extracted by the animal, 
gain, we must remember that the Germans are more careful with their meadows, 
id that our hay is inferior to theirs upon the whole, so that their average hay is 
obably equal to our best hay. 
Carefully conducted experiments were instituted to ascertain how much of each 
' the food constituents are required to meet the demands of farm animals under their 
irious conditions. Let us illustrate by taking the esse or a full grown ox weighing 
ist 1,000 pounds and in good flesh and health, and kept in a good, comfortable stall, 
ow much food is required to keep this animal in just its present condition, neither 
’owing fat nor lean V At first thought we might conclude that no muscle formers or 
buminoids are needed, as no apparent work is done, but we should reflect that the 
limal must breathe, its heart contract many times a minute to send the blood over 
le body, that the stomach must labor in digestion, and that standing up means mus- 
llar effort. Our quiet ox, then, is really doing some work all the time, end to keep 
p these various processes .7 of a pound of digestible albuminoids must be supplied, 
f the heat formers or carbohydrates, 8 pounds must be supplied, besides .15 pounds 
fat, any mention of which might be omitted, only that about that amount would 
:obably be found in any of the ordinary foods supplied. Multiplying the .15 pounds 
1 fat by 2i gives .37 as the value of the fat in the food with carbohydrates as the 
andard ; adding this to 8 pounds gives 8.37 pounds carbohydrates ; now .7 goes into 
37 nearly twelve times, and this gives the nutritive ratio 1 to 12. By this we mean 
Lat an ox under the above conditions named, requires for his sustenance twelve 
Hinds of carbohydrates or fat formers for every one of flesh formers. The nutritive 
itio for the ox at rest is 7:12. Perusing the tables for rations for farm animals on 
jxt page, we see these statements arranged in tabular form : 
