142 BOARD OF AGRICULTURE. 



Cocoanut Cake. The digestibility of the constituents was deter- 

 mined by experiments upon pigs, at Hohenheim, and gave for albu- 

 minoids 73 per cent., and for extractive carboh^-drates 88 percent. 



Palm-nut Cake, gave in an experiment, made at Mockern upon 

 oxen, 100 per cent, for the digestibility of the albuminoids, and 92 

 per cent, for that of the extractive carbohydrates. 



Whey. The product of cheese making has a very low digestive 

 relation ; its dilution is also very great. On an average, it contains 

 about one per cent, of all)umiuoids, and 4 to per cent, of sugar of 

 milk, and .3 to .6 per cent, of fats. It is, however, very good food 

 for hogs, especially when thickened with barley or oat meal or bran. 



Skimmed milk is of much greater nutritive value than buttermilk 

 or whe}', and can be used as an addition to food containing small 

 quantities of nitrogen, such as potatoes. 



WJiole miJk is most digestible, and it is only when it is given alone 

 that some of it ma}' be lost. 



Potatoes. The value of potatoes as fodder varies greatly with the 

 conditions of vegetation. The potato may contain from 18 to 30 

 per cent, of dr}' matter, 1,3 to 4.5 per cent, of albuminoids, and 12 

 to 27 per cent, of starch. The richer potatoes are in starch, the 

 poorer they may be in albuminoids. The relation of the albuminoids 

 to the carbohjd rates varies from 1 : 10 to 1 : 12. In a watery potato 

 we generall}^ have a decreased amount of starch, but an increase in 

 albuminoids and mineral matters. The influence of manures upon 

 their composition is very great, especially upon the quantitj' of 

 albuminoids. The same variety of potato, similarly cultivated, but 

 one patch manured with potash salts and lime, the other with car- 

 bonate of ammonia, gave in the first case 2.27 per cent, of albu- 

 minoids, and in the second 4.44 per cent. 



The value of cooked or steamed potatoes seems to be somewhat 

 greater than raw ; at au}^ rate, their action is less debilitating. It is 

 stated by some authors, that cows fed on cooked or steamed potatoes 

 yield richer milk than those fed on raw ones, though the quantity of 

 milk is less. Potatoes must never be given alone, but mixed with 

 other fodder containing more albuminoids ; the Av\ substance of 

 such a ration should not contain more than one-quarter potato. It 

 should be remembered, that though potatoes are rich in potash, and 

 contain considerable phosphoric acid, they are deficient in soda and 

 lime ; this latter substance should be supplied in feeding milch cows, 



