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Show THE SCIENCE OF FEEDING. The Importance of Thoroughly Bal-c. Bal-c. anced Rations. The importance of an economical as well as nutritive ration is realized by every ev-ery feeder. It is the opinion of J. T. WH-lard WH-lard of the Kansas experiment station that the most profitable combinations of western feeds tor western conditions are not yet known and that a promising field is here 'presented for the execution' of varied and repeated feeding tests with fattening cattle, dairy t ows, swine, horses and sheep. - . Considerable misapprehension .exists, says Professor Willard. as:. to--the meaning mean-ing of the term "balanced-, ration," the idea being prevalent thau-the . balaaxced ration Is a certain combination of feeds and always the same, in point of fact a combination of feeds that is best adaptedthat adapt-edthat is. balanced lor one purpose, with one species of animal of a given age and condition might be unbalanced if the purpose, the species, the age or condition were different. Thus a ration balanced lor a growing calf is unbalanced for a fattening steer. A balanced ration for a dairy cow is still different, and even the best ration for a cow giving a large yield of milk is not the best for the same cow at a later period when the milk flow has become small. A balanced ration is simply sim-ply one in which the feeds ars mixed in such proportions as to provide constituents constitu-ents in such relative quantities as experience expe-rience has shown to give the best results under the given set of conditions. Many farmers realize the importance of a properly balanced ration, but do not know how to compound one. The methods hitherto in use tend to discourage making the necessary calculations, as" they involve in-volve guesswork on unfamiliar ground, followed by tedious calculations, to be followed by another guess and the succeeding suc-ceeding calculations and so on. until approximately ap-proximately the correct quantities have beren arrived at by this cut and to-process. to-process. - In brlletin 11". Professor Willard explains ex-plains and illustrates a method of his own ty which, he claims, it is possible to calculate cal-culate a ration exactly if the composition composi-tion of the feeds is known. He has endeavored en-deavored to so simplify the calculation of a ration that any intelligent farmer mav undertake and accomplish it with but little lit-tle labor. The process is designed to meet ordinary requirements, to be within the mathematical range of all and to demand de-mand slight expenditure of time. This bulletin combats the statements of text books on computing rations and Is designed to show that rations of anv degree de-gree of perplexity may be balanced ' with absolute exactness if feeds are available of the necessary composition. |