3. Variety in the ration.
4. Suitability of the feeds to the animal.
5. Palatability of the ration.
6. Cost of the ration.
The Amount of Food in a ration has refer ence to the relative amounts of roughage and concentrates. By roughage is meant the coarser feeds, such as hay, corn fodder, silage; by concentrates are meant the grains and the other feeds in the ration that are low in their percentage of fibre and water and high in their percentage of total digestible nutrients.
Horses at work should be given two to three pounds of feed (roughages and concen trates combined) daily per 100 pounds live weight, the allowance of concentrates ranging from 10 to 18 pounds, depending on the severity of the work.
Dairy cows in milk should be fed about two pounds of dry roughage or one pound of dry roughage and three pounds of silage daily per 100 pounds live weight, with one potind con centrates to three or three and one-half pounds of milk yielded.
Fattening steers need two and one-tenth pounds or more of concentrates and dry roughage (or the equivalent in silage) daily per 100 pounds live weight, the allowance of concentrates ranging from less than one pound to one and seven-tenths pounds, or more, per 100 pounds live weight, depending on the rate ofgain desired and the kind of roughage.
Fattening lambs will consume about one and one-fourth pounds of dry roughage daily when fed all the grain they will eat, and up to two andothree-tenths pounds or over when the grain allowance is restricted. 'Silage may replace a corresponding amount of dry matter in dry roughage.
Pigs can make but limited use of dry roughage, except in the case of brood sows not suckling young.
The Digestibility of the ration also depends a great deal on the relative amounts of roughage and concentrates, and oq the character of the concentrates. As a genrat pig the more in tense the feeding the arc '-toncentrated the will be and corw.e fly the more highly digestible it will be. Cdre must always be taken that the ration is not too concentrated.
Variety in the Ration.—All feeders of ani mals should provide variety in the ration. Vari ety stimulates the animal's appetite. Best re sults are obtained from rations for dairy cows that have two different feeds in the roughage and three feeds in the concentrated part of the ration. These feeds should come from not less than three different plants. Other classes of animals do not seem to need so much variety, although it is wise to supply it with all classes.
Suitability of Feeds to the Animal.— The feeds in the ration should be suited to the ani mal and to the purpose for which the animal is fed. For example, wheat is not suitable for feeding hogs because of its bulk; wheat middlings are much to be preferred.
Palatability of Feeds to the Animal.—The ration should be palatable if the best results in production are to be obtained. With dairy cows palatability is easily obtained by providing succulent feed in the ration. The condition of the feed has much to do with its palatability. No musty nor damaged feed should be given.
Cost of the Ration.— Without doubt, the cost of the ration is the most important factor to be considered by the farmer. However, the other factors must not be sacrificed for cost in every case. There is no general rule to be given in regard to cost. If one has access to a set of tables which give the pounds of total digest ible nutrients, a rough way, efficient in most cases, to choose feeds for the greatest economy in the ration is to calculate the cost of 10b pounds of total digestible nutrients in the different feeds available, then to choose those that will yield total digestible nutrients the cheapest — always taking into consideration the five other factors that have just been explained. Too little attention has been paid to the proper compounding of rations to get the best returns in product from the money paid out for feed, whether that feed has been actually bought in the market or produced on the farm. The pos sible usefulness of many home-grown crops is not known to many farmers. If clover hay, alfalfa hay, roots and silage are raised, the bills for grain may be reduced very much. These crops can all be raised and fed at a profit, since at their usual market price they will yield digestible material cheaper than will any of the commercial feeds. A knowledge of the composition of these home-grown crops is necessary, in order to fit them into the ration intelligently. A farmer should study from all sides the possibilities of his farm, and produce all the feed for his stock that he can. Then he should buy those commercial feeds that will round out his rations properly. Many farmers never set any price on the feeds produced on the farm, considering them merely as feeds pro cured at no money cost and therefore to be fed without regard to quantity or composition.