FARM ANIMALS

the FEEDING. The|substances alue of the feed consumed is the prin-| supply pal item of expense in producing farm i nimals. Fully two-thirds of the cost | energy f producing milk in winter is the cost of] gather 1e feed. In fattening cattle and hogs| food, ore than three-fourths of the cost is} qoes presented in the feed bill. A herd of | for yws in Wisconsin produced under official | in milk, st almost twice as much milk and utter in a year when fed by one owner kafir, 3 when fed by another. Dr. E. C.| crops ckles, of the University of Minnesota, | hydrates. authority for the statement that the principal or returns obtained from dairy cows | the United States, compared with} (3) lose of several other countries, is le | of feed ie to poor breeding than to poor/the eding. In feeding stock, as in every] palatable, her busine enterprise, where the| properties ‘incipal expense is, there the oppor-| e¢ ential nities for making savings are greatest. | juices. Some foodstuffs are more easily and | mineral lily digested than others; as for|some ample, milk is completely used while} about ) more than a fourth of such coarse] nesium. dders as wheat straw and corn stover pure digested. Grains, such as corn and] The ill feeds are quite easily digested and|such iy four-fifths of their total content| notably made available. Hays, like clover, | fodders mothy, and alfalfa are somewhat more | are an half digested and a green pasture] like a is very easily digested and is largely | soybeans, Tax E mntiaL ConstITuENts OF | are low seps: There are four e ential con-| When ituents of feeds—(1) Protein, (2)|and arbohydrates, (3) Minerals, (4) Vita-|there (1) Proteins. This is a group of sub-| many ances e ential to the life and growth] dairy animals and the repair of their bodies. | fined is also a nece ary part of the feed| are r the production of milk, eggs, wool, | ration id feathers. Protein is sometimes Placing oken of as the blood and muscle mak- | common EY art of feeds.. or bone © animals require only about 1/be it of protein to 6 or 7 parts of starch | animal id sugars, yet so scarce is protein in] (4) ture that even this small amount is| vitamines, ually the most expensive part of| paratively Among the feeds rich in proteins are] the e by-products of manufacture such y as do know cat meal and tankage from the packing | plied uses; skimmed milk and buttermilk | stop seed meal, wheat bran, and wheat|in these iddlings from the milling industries:| and the eds such as beans and peas, and the iS made from clovers, cowpeas, soy-| feeds ans, and alfalfa, part Carbohydrates. In animal nutrition include the tible ode rt Baa nee cied bre 4 are three-fold: t, to heat with which to keep the body warm; secondly, to supply for work suc as walking about to food, grinding and digesting and performing labor as the horse when it pulls the plow; thirdly, building fat to be stored in the body, in eggs, in feathers, and in w<ol. Cereals such as corn, oats, barley milo, sorghum, and gra forage are the principal sources of carbo These being among our farm crops, carbohydrates are comparatively abundant and cheap. Minerals. The mineral elements supply the building material for bony structure of the body: add laxative, and stimulative to the ration, and furnish constituents of the digestive Almost 70 per cent of the required by animals is calcium, 27 per cent is phosphorus, and one-half of 1 per cent is mag- ‘The shell of an egg is almost calcium carbonate. grains used so largely as feeds, as corn and grain sorghums, are deficient in minerals. Coarse such as hay and pasture gra es relatively rich in minerals. Legumes alfalfa, red clover, sweet clover, and cowpeas are comparatively minerals. Straws and corn stover in these elements. farm animals had a wide range acce to a great variety of feeds was little need to consider the part of the ration, but now that farm animals, particularly hogs, cows, and hens are closely conand are fed largely on grains that low in minerals, this part of, the has become quite important. a mineral mixture containing salt, finely ground limes to: flour and sulphur where it wi acce ible at all times to the farm is a growing practice. Vitamines. Exactly what part a newly discovered and com little understood group of in feeds, play in nourishing animal body is not known but we that if vitamines are not a | to young animals they quickly growing and soon die. Also that feed of grown animals is lacking substances old age soon sets in, animals speedily die. Vitamines are found in a variety of but most Lott Aor ie in the lea: of plants, butterfat, cod liver yellow corn, yellow sweet potatoes, carrots, and ripe peas. By givin: g.animals a great, variety of feeds and especially leafy hays such as those made from clovers or alfalfa and-acce to green pastures as much of the time as is po ible their vitamine requirements will be fully satisfied.