92 THE CONNECTICUT AGRICULTURAL 



49 per ct. of its fat were digested. The digestible carbhydrates 

 we consider to be equal to the total amount of nitrogen-free 

 extract, because experiment has shown that this is almost always 

 the case with coarse fodder, within narrow limits. We conclude, 

 then, that the dry matter of this sample of hay contained 52 per 

 cent, of 8.82 per cent., or 4.59 per cent, of digestible protein, 4.9 

 per cent, of 2.66 per cent., or 1.80 per cent, of digestible fat, and 

 50.24 per cent, of digestible carbhydrates. That these numbers 

 are not exact is sufficiently evident from the manner in which 

 they are obtained. They are simply the best estimate of the 

 digestibility of this particular sample which the results of numer- 

 ous digestion experiments enable us to form. 



In very much the same way we estimate the digestibility of the 

 other feeding-stuffs used, except that there is less uncertainty 

 involved, the digestibility of concentrated fodders having usually 

 been found to vary less than that of coarse fodders. In the case 

 of the maize meal the estimate is complicated by the presence of 

 an indeterminate amount of cob. In twelve samples of maize 

 examined at this Station in ]8'78,* the cob was found to amount 

 on the average to about 20 per cent, of the weight of the corn. 

 On this basis, and assuming the cob to be of average composition, 

 it will be found that a separate estimate of the digestibility of 

 corn and cob will yield a final result differing by less than 0.05 lb. 

 per head from that obtained by applying the digestion coefficients 

 of maize directly to the cob-meal. We are therefore at liberty 

 to pursue the latter and simpler course. Our digestion coefficients, 

 then, which express the percentage digestibility of the several 

 ingredients of the feeding-stuffs are : 



The dry matter of our feeding-stuffs, therefore, contains of 

 digestible matters : 



Protein, per cent. 



Hay, -- 4.59 



Maize meal, 8.18 



Linseed meal, 31.25 



* Report, 1878, p. 74. . 



f The digestible portions of the crude tiber and of the N. fr. extract, have the 

 same composition and are added together as carbhydrates. 



