276 BOARD OF AGRICULTURE. 



Percentage of organic matter digested. 



Total 

 No. of Organic 



Experiments. Substance. Albuminoids. Fat. Fibre. 



Meadow hay, ----- 45 64 59 50 62 



Clover hay. 18 60 59 59 47 



Clover, just before flower. - - 4 71 85 66 56 



<•' in full flower. - - - 2 64 69 61 50 



past flower. - - - 2 58 59 44 39 



Potatoes, 13 90 66 53 27 



Linseed cake. - - - - 8 81 86 90 69 



Cotton-seed cake (with hulls), 4 50 74 91 23 



Oats. ------- 9 69 75 78 20 



Eye straw. ----- 5 51 24 32 62 



The above figures are simply averages of the results of 

 trials made in most cases by different experimenters on dif- 

 ferent animals. In case of meadow and clover hay they are 

 perhaps so numerous as to fairly establish the superiority of 

 the former, by showing that although clover hay contains 

 some four per cent, more albuminoids than grass hay, it gives 

 no more of them to the support of animals, while its fibre is 

 far less digestible. The influence of age on the digestibility 

 of forage is strikingly seen in case of clover, the percentage 

 value of which decreases rapidily during flowering and ripen- 

 ingf. Potatoes and linseed cake are amonor the most concen- 

 trated and digestible of foods ; and cotton-seed cake, when 

 free from hulls, ranks but little inferior to linseed cake. It 

 is observed that rye straw is food to the extent of one-half 

 its weight ; while of the grain of oats 30 per cent, is un- 

 disrested. But the albuminoids of oats are thrice more nutri- 

 tious than those of rye straw ; and the cellulose of the straw 

 is thrice as nutritious as that of the oats. The belief so 

 prevalent in this country, that Indian corn is unsurpassed 

 among the grains as a food, finds confirmation in these 

 researches, its relative digestibility being higher than that of 

 barley, as well as that of peas and beans. It is evident that 

 experiments which promise to give us the data for comparing 

 the digestibility of different foods, are of the utmost impor- 

 tance. By their aid the compounding of really normal rations 



