23 



The feeding value of different forage crops, fresh and cured, depends 

 in considerable degree upon the stage of growth, as has been shown 

 by a number of chemical studies of the composition of different crops 

 and cuttings of alfalfa, young and more matured corn forage, etc. 

 Generally speaking, the nutritive value of the crop increases until 

 o-rowth is complete and diminishes somewhat as the plants mature or 

 become overripe. Straw, the fully ripened stalk of cereal grains, 

 contains some nutritive material, l)ut is less nutritious than the same 

 portion of the plant cut before ripening. In the perfectly ripe con- 

 dition the nutritive material, elaborated in different portions of the 

 ordinary forage plants, has been conveyed to the seed and used for its 

 development or stored as reserve material. 



Green forage crops are frequently preserved by ensiling. In this 

 process the material undergoes a peculiar oxidation which correspond- 

 ingly changes it in composition and food value. Some of the carbo- 

 hydrates are changed into alcohol, acetic and other acids, and crude 

 fiber is undoubtedly softened somewhat, and possibly the silage is thus 

 rendered more digestible. Bodies having peculiar flavor and odor are 

 also formed. 



The green crops, hay, straw, other cured crops, and silage are fre- 

 quently called " coarse fodder" or " roughage." This term is due to 

 the fact that they contain a comparatively small amount of nutritive 

 material and a high proportion of crude fiber as compared with their 

 total bulk. Although inferior to concentrated feeds in composition, 

 they are an essential part of the ration of horses and other farm ani- 

 mals, serving to give the required bulk to the food and being useful in 

 other waj^s. 



It is believed that unless the food, when taken into the stomach, is 

 comparatively bulky and the mass is more or less loose in sti'ucture, 

 it is not readily acted on by the digestive juices. The intestinal tract 

 of the horse is long in proportion to the size of the animal, and food 

 remains in it for several days. Experiments indicate that crude fiber, 

 which is only slightly digestible by man, is quite thoroughly digested 

 by horses, and even more thoroughly digested by ruminants, owing its 

 digestibility to the fact that it is fermented for a comparatively long 

 period by micro-organisms in the intestines. 



Regarding the need of straw in a ration to supply the necessary bulk, 

 Lavalard's" opinion follows: 



The statement is often made that horses can not do without straw [to supply coarse 

 fodder]. This is an error, for we have fed horses hay and oats during very long 

 periods, and have never noticed that they suffered any inconvenience or detrnnent. 

 This is a matter of importance, since it is often inconvenient to obtain straw [even 

 for bedding], and in such cases peat, sawdust, sand, etc., may be profitably used as 

 bedding in place of straw. 



"Loc. cit. 



