826 ANNUAL REPORT OF THE Off. Doc. 



The PRESIDENT: Have there been any ill effects like that ob- 

 served in cattle? 



DR. NEAL: None whatever. The horses alone seem to have this 

 difficulty. Good paper has been made from the manure of horses 

 on account of the presence of the fibrin which they cannot digest. 

 Cows do not have this dii!iculty. 



DR. CONARD: I was much interested in the Doctor's statements 

 about the packing down of the clover, and it suggested a question. 

 We have but one silo which is pretty Aveli filled with silage, and we 

 have some corn fodder which we want to use as the Doctor is using 

 it, soften it and use everj^ bit of it. It was my plan to make a vat 

 or trough about 3 feet wide, 8 or lU feet long and a couple of feet 

 deep, and to have a false bottom 1 or 2 inches above the other bot- 

 tom. I would pack that full of shredded or cut fodder, put a lid 

 down tightly upon it and introduce steam under the false bottom, 

 leaving it covered over night or until the next feeding time. In our 

 case the steam would cost us nothing. Will that answer the same 

 purpose in the absence of the silo or not? 



DR. NEAL: Will Dr. Armsby explain the difference between cook- 

 ing and fermentation; that is, the fermentation taking place in the 

 silo. 



The PRESIDENT: It is easy to state the chemical difference. 

 Fermentation means a breaking down of the more easily soluble 

 constituents of the body with more or less formation of acids and 

 other aromatic products which would add to the flavor of the fod- 

 der and the qualities that contribute to its more complete consump- 

 tion. Cooking simply makes it more digestible, but I take it that 

 you do not get the flavor that you do by fermentation. 



DR. NEAL: Has it been demonstrated that cooked food is not de- 

 sirable to the dairy cow? 



The PRESIDENT: Cooking adds nothing, except that it may con- 

 duce to the more complete consumption of the food. There is a cer- 

 tain amount of food in the cornstalk, but if your cow don't eat it, 

 it neither does her nor her owner any good. If by some sort of 

 treatment you can get her to eat that the probabilities are that it 

 will be digested and perform its nutritive function. Other things 

 being equal, however, the cooking is likely to diminish the quality of 

 the food rather than improve it. The practical experience of a 

 great niiiny men is that the advantage of cooking food is not great 

 enough to pay for the cost. 



DR. NEAL: There is one thing that can be purchased to make 

 t-he shorter fodder more palatable; a low grade molasses which vou 



