FOODS AND FEEDING. 
unable to find the reports of any experiments 
determining the amounts of these materials 
necessary for fowls. For want of definite in¬ 
formation on several points he is unable to do 
the subject justice, but with many apologies and 
a few misgivings he will attempt to formulate a 
ration which shall be practicable for the farmer. 
It is usual to feed a ration of soft foods in the 
morning, with a whole grain ration at night. 
We will suppose we have our choice of the 
following feeding stuffs: Bran, corn meal, ground 
oats, oil cake, cotton-seed meal, beef and blood 
meal, red clover hay, skim milk, with oats, rye, 
wheat, and corn for a whole grain ration. The 
following table gives the digestible nutrients 
found in 100 pounds of each of these and a few 
other articles: 
Percentage Digestible Matter in American 
Feeding Stuffs. 
Feeding Stuff. 
Crude 
Protein. 
Carbohy¬ 
drates. 
Ether 
Extract. 
Red Clover Hay.... 
Per cent. 
6.5 
Per cent. 
34.9 
Per cent. 
1.6 
Alfalfa Hav. 
7.6 
37.8 
1.3 
Cowpea Hav. 
8.1 
37.3 
1.7 
Potatoes. 
1.4 
16.1 
0.0 
Corn, average for all 
varieties. 
7.1 
62.7 
4.2 
Wheat, average for all 
varieties. 
9.3 
55.8 
1.8 
Rve. 
8.3 
65.5 
1.2 
Oats. 
9.1 
44.7 
4.1 
Bran. 
12.6 
44.1 
2.9 
Middlings. 
12.2 
47.2 
2.9 
Cottonseed Meal. 
36.9 
18.1 
12.3 
Linseed Meal. 
27.2 
31.8 
2.7 
Dried Blood. 
59.1 
0.0 
2.3 
Meat Scraps. 
68.4 
0.3 
13.5 
Skim Milk. 
3.1 
4.7 
0.8 
For convenience we will 
mix 250 
pounds 
of soft food at a time, selecting as an experi¬ 
mental ration 100 pounds bran, 50 pounds corn 
meal, 50 pounds ground oats. 25 pounds cotton¬ 
seed meal, 25 pounds beef and blood meal 
(assuming the latter to be composed of equal 
parts of blood and meat scraps). These quan¬ 
tities by reference to the foregoing table are 
seen to contain the following amounts of digest¬ 
ible nutrients: Protein 45.34 pounds; carbo- 
hydrates, 101.90; ether extract or fat, 11.51 
pounds. The nutritive ration we find is 1:2.8, 
while the German standard for milch cows is 
1:5.4. Therefore to balance the ratio wemust- 
seiect some material rich in carbohydrates and 
fat. In selecting clover hay, we secure a high 
percentage of carbohydrates and at the same 
time by properly preparing and mixing the 
clover with the morning mash we are able to 
furnish what closely approximates green food. 
Fifty pounds of red clover hay added to our 
ration, raises the nutritive ratio to about 1: 3.00. 
When skim milk is at hand a very profitable 
use can be made of it by mixing the soft food 
with it. A quart of skim milk weighs about 
two and a half pounds. By adding in the feeding 
period an aggregate of one hundred pounds 
of milk we make it very palatable but lower the 
nutritive ratio to 1:2.76. This we will accept 
for our morning mash, feeding what each fowl 
will clean up quickly. For our whole grain 
ration, we may select corn, wheat or rye, as they 
are all relatively rich in nitrogenous materials 
and will help balance the ration. We will select 
corn to scatter in the litter in the evening. If 
we use two hundred pounds in connection with 
the two hundred and fifty pounds soft food, our 
nutritive ratio will stand 1:4.3,somewhat narrow¬ 
er than the standard but very practicable. 
The relative amount of grain and soft food 
used varies with different individuals, some 
using more and others less. The nutritive ratio, 
however, should conform more closely to the 
standard than the average ration does if best 
results are desired. The experimental ration 
outlined above is not intended as a criterion, 
but simply to show how the different factors 
are obtained. Theoretically it would be better 
for the growing chick than the laying hen. 
—Reliable Poultry Journal. 
VALUE OF ROOTS FOR HENS. 
Substitute for Fresh Grass and Vegetables to 
Be Found in Various Root Crops—An 
Article of Highly Practical Value. 
Some June day watch a hen in a small flock 
left to roam and pick at liberty and see what she 
eats. Just as soon as it is light she is up and 
hustling around to catch the earth worm. You 
will find her always busy searching for food; a 
tip of grass here, then a clover leaf, next a 
grass-hopper, a strawberry, another grass leaf, 
or a sharp pebble attracts her attention. A 
little rest in the shade, with perhaps a dust bath, 
is her only recreation. She u active all day 
long trying to satisfy her appetite, and at night 
she comes back to roost with a full crop. These 
are happy days for biddy and she lays an egg 
i_. cf C. 
99 
