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A STUDY OF RATIONS FED TO MILCH COWS. lay 
as clover, peas, vetch, etc., and many of the products of milling and food manu- 
facture are relatively rich in protein, and hence have narrow nutritive ratios. 
The measure of the size of a ration.—In order that a ration may be complete, 
there must be enough digestible protein supplied in the food to build new tis- 
sues (bone, muscle, milk, etc.,) and repair the wastes of the body, and sufficient 
digestible fat and carbohydrates to furnish heat and muscular energy. As the 
chief function of the fat and carbohydrates is to serve as fuel, it is more import- 
ant that enough of these should be provided to meet the needs of the animal 
than that they should be supplied in definite relative proportions. It is, there- 
fore, possible to form a very good idea of the nutrients furnished in a ration, 
and to measure its size by the quantity of digestible protein or flesh-formers 
which it contains, and the fuel value of its digestible constituents. 
RESULTS OF THE EXPERIMENTS. 
Tables 1 to 8 inclusive contain the results of the observations 
and studies of the different herds. 
The following abbreviations are used in the tables: 
Abbreviations used in report of rations fed to milch cows. 
Grade, Hol. = Holstein. Jy. fersey. Nat. = Native. 
The tables are alike in arrangement, and a description of one 
will serve forall. Hach table contains the condensed results of 
a single test. Table 1, for instance, gives the statistics for herd 
test NO. 35. 
The first part of the upper table gives a reference number 
of each animal, its breed, age, weight, and number of months 
since last calf. The smallest daily milk flow, the greatest daily 
milk flow, and the average daily yield of milk for the period of 
the test are given in the next three columns. In the three 
following columns are given the lowest, highest, and average 
percentages of fat found in the daily milk of each cow for 
the period. The last named figures were obtained by adding 
together the several daily determinations and taking the aver- 
age as representing the whole period, hence this actual average 
is not always half way between the highest and the lowest. 
The yield of fat is given in the last three columns of the first 
or upper part of the table. The minimum and maximum yields 
of fats were obtained by multiplying each day’s milk by its 
percentage of fat; the lowest number thus obtained gives the 
minimum daily yield of fat, and the largest the maximum yield 
of fat. It is to be noted that these numbers are not always the 
same as would have been obtained by multiplying the minimum 
and maximum daily milk flow by the minimum and maximum 
percentages of fat. 
