ECONOMICAL STOCK FEEDING. 57 



We have another ehiss of materials known as carbhydrates. Tliis 

 class of materials goes to maintain the heat of the animal, supply 

 force and maintain respiration. 



The fats in the food go to maintain heat chiefly. There is some 

 evidence that with some animals the fat in the food is transmitted 

 into resulting fat, either laid on the body or found in the milk in the 

 form of cream ; but not to any great extent, and experimenters 

 have not yet fully settled this point. "But it is not necessary to an 

 intelligent understanding of this question to deal at length with that 

 point. It is not important that we dwell here, from the further fact 

 that in all of our ordinary cattle foods there is a sufficient quantity 

 of fats without extra pains to supply them. 



Having these different materials in mind, let us inquire what is 

 the injury that comes from feeding an excess of any one. For in- 

 stance, a young animal requires a food rich in albuminoids 

 to make a rapid giowth. Economy would require that you 

 give just enough of the albuminoids and just enough of 

 the carbhydrates to supply the wants of the system. Suppose, 

 now, you feed an excess of carbhydrates, where is the loss? It is 

 this : the animal economy will lay up only what is needed to go 

 with, or balance, so to speak, the amount of albuminoids which the 

 animal system requires, and if you feed more than the proper 

 amount to hold that balance with the albuminoids, you are requir- 

 ing the animal to masticate and digest a portion of food which it 

 cannot assimilate ; it is spending its muscular force, using its di- 

 gestive organs to handle a food which can do no good. This ex- 

 cess is thrown off from the animal as waste material and 30U get 

 nothing from it except the fertilizing value. So there is not only an 

 actual loss of material, but you see it is detrimental to the most 

 rapid growth of the animal, to require it to grind and digest that 

 which it cannot assimilate. 



We have had some talk about the values of different kinds of 

 material, and also the best methods of feeding cows for milk, re- 

 serving to this evening the question of the ration of cows and other 

 animals. Let us look for a moment to this chart, and we will see 

 the comparative values of straw and hay. Wheat straw contains 

 3.1 per cent, of (chart) albuminoid compounds, and 37.5 of carb- 

 hydrates. Barley straw, you will see, is a little richer in nitroge- 

 nous material and not so much of the carbhydrates. 



