Jasper County Democrat, Volume 20, Number 17, Rensselaer, Jasper County, 26 May 1917 — DOUBLE DUTY [ARTICLE]

DOUBLE DUTY

A Dairy Ration Has Two Main Uses— Life and Product. [National Crop Improvement Service,] A ration is divided into two parts: 1. r The part needed to maintain or t keep the animal alive. | 2. The part needed to make Stored up material lik? wool, fat, meat or milk. Milk is roughly in solids, one-third each casein (protein), fat and sugar, j The casein in milk can only be furnished by the protein in the food. The fat and sugar may be derived from either protein, fat or carbohydrates. . If a cow has the ability to give 50 ■ pounds of milk containing two pounds of casein, and only gets enough protein to make one pound of casein, then she will only give 25 pounds of | milk. • A balanced ration is one that has just the exact amount of protein, fat and carbohydrates that the cow needs. Just what this is we cannot ever say exactly, because the amounts : vary from week to w eek and no two cows are alike, nor are feeds alike. A practical ration is one that has sufficient protein and enough total i food to make the greatest amount of J milk w ithout the co.w losing weight. I A commercially successful ration is the'one that makes the most milk or profit, keeps the cow healthy and enables the use of the most roughage. | All the hay and ensilage .. cow can eat will keep her alive and make about 15 pounds of milk. Any more milk has to come from grain or grain [feed. i The farm can usually raise carbohydrates cheap in the form of hay and ! ensilage, and, outside of clover, peas, ‘ etc., protein can usually be bought cheaper than it can be raised. The average price of protein feeds with 20 per cent digestible protein was about $25 to $35 per ton before the war, but the prices are much i higher now, while hay (clover) with 5% per cent digestible protein has been rated at $lO per ton, so the protein feed at s4owould furnish protein about as clover at $lO.