Manchester Democrat. [volume] (Manchester, Iowa) 1875-1930, 1910-08-10

1t matters little how good the herd
or how convenient and perfect Its en-.
yironment unless supplied with feeds
m proper amounts and quality. 1t Is
customary on the farm in the corn
belt for the farmer to content himself
with the raising of corn largely. and
Z In the past 1t has been too often the
case that corn was used as the sole
cation for every class of farm ami
mails, and 1t was believed that as
good results could be obtained by the
use Of corn and corn alone as though
other feeds were used in conjunction
with 1t. Corn in years gone by has
been cheap in price and 1t has been
possible for the farmer in the corn
belt to raise large yields annually.
During the past few years, however,
although the crop has yielded as large
ly per acre. the price has continued
to advance until at the present time
the farmer feels that to feed 1t In
such way there Is waste which
brings about Improbable results
This is true and, furthermore. 1t is.
true that where corn Is fed alone. es-
pecially to dairy cows. there is In
Cured very large waste OF feeding
nutrients and profits After any ami.
NAL has consumed certain amount
of corn 1t Is impossible for him to di.
gest and assimilate the nutrients out
of any larger amount of this one ma
tertal even though he has the ca
pacity OF consuming double that
which he can use profitably. After
a certain amount OF corn is fed to the
dairy COW, all in addition to that is
either wasted by passing on undi.
gested or Is converted into fat and
laid upon the body. which is worse
than wasted because 1t taxes the d.
gestive apparatus and goes to produce
4 beef which not only has no value, but
Is absolutely detriment to the best
work Of the COW.
Other Feed Than Corn Necessary.
In consequence of this the dairy
farmer has learned that 1t is neces.
sary for him to supply some feed
\ with the corn raised upon his farm
that contains those nutrients In which
corn is lacking. He knows that a
balanced ration means nothing more
nor less than the supplying Of the
different feeding nutrients in proper
proportions so that the! ration is the
enc which will produce the greatest
amount of milk and butter fat at the
least cost. Such a ration is made up
by supplying proper proportion OF
carbohydrates and fat which are
found to the greatest extent in the
corn plant in proportion to protein
which is found in oil meal, gluten
feed. cottonseed meal. bran, dried dis.
tillers' grains, clover hay, alfalfa,
COW peas. soy beans. etc. There was
a time when bran could be purchased
I for $40 or $12 ton and oil meal for
little more. Cottonseed meal the
southern planter paid to have de-
stroyed. Gluten feed was very cheap
and. In fact, the protein feeds were
less valuable than was corn. Grad.
-.1safy us1ne-fhtell igent 1eeaer became
aware of the extreme value Of these
products In balancing up the abund-
ance Of corn raised on the farm In
the corn belt, he began using them,
. tnus creating demand which In time
reached or even exceeded the supply.
and at the present time we find these
commercial products. rich in protein,
selling for high price. The farmer
of the corn belt has 1t in hts power
to raise upon his farm those foods
which supply in the cheapest and best
forms all the protein that Is demand
ed for balancing up the corn which he
raises. This can be done by dividing
the farm, practising rotation of crops,
which is one of the most efficient
methods of retaining the fertility. and
by growing less corn and more oats,
barley. clover. alfalfa. sweet clover.
etc.
Raise Feeds to Balance the Ration.
1t is perhaps fact that there are