42 



Table 2. — Summary of coefHeienU^ of digefitibility obtained in experiments iriOt 



horses — Continued. 



Kinds of fodder. 



Corn meal 



Oats 



Ground oats 



Wheat a 



Rye 



Cotton-seed meal <• 



Field beans 



Lupine seeds 



Peas 



Wheat bran <• 



Wheat shorts'' 



Dried brewers' grains <' 



Gluten meal <■ 



Linseed meal « 



Molasses 



Coefficients of digestibility. 



Protein. 



Per cent. 

 76.0 

 79.6 

 82.4 

 79.6 

 80.3 

 88.4 

 85.9 

 94.2 

 83.0 

 77.8 

 77.8 

 79.3 

 88.2 

 85.2 

 100.0 



Fat. 



Per cent. 

 67.1 

 72.1 

 79.9 

 72.1 

 42.4 

 93.3 

 13.2 

 27.3 

 6.9 

 68.0 

 68.0 

 91.1 

 94.4 

 %.6 



extrl^ct. «ber. 



Per cent. 

 93.9 

 75.8 

 86.1 

 75.8 

 87.3 

 60.6 

 93.6 

 50.8 

 S9.0 

 69.4 

 69.4 

 57.8 

 89.8 

 86.1 

 100.0 



Per 



cent. 

 20.2 

 29.7 

 14.4 

 29.7 



100. 

 55.5 

 65.4 

 50.8 

 8.0 

 28.6 

 28.6 

 52.6 



80.4 



aAs oats, no coefficients of digestibility of wheat having been found. 



&This value is without doubt much too high. 



c Coefficients of digestibility as fed to ruminants. 



d As bran, no coefficients of digestibility of shorts having V)een found. 



In addition to the experiments reported above, a iium])er have been 

 found on record which show the digestibility of a mixed ration, but, 

 generally speaking, the total number of digestion experiments with 

 horses is small and, as will be seen, the tests are limited to a compara- 

 tively small number of feeding stuffs. Some 36 experiments were 

 found on the digestibility of oats and 30 on the digestibilit}^ of meadow 

 hay. The total number reported with alfalfa hay was 12, and in all 

 other cases the number was very small. It is evident that more diges- 

 tion experiments are needed with some of the common feeding stuffs, 

 and that the digestibility of many additional materials should be 

 studied. 



As will be seen in the majority of feeding stuffs, the percentage of 

 protein digested is fairly high, greater in grains and seeds than in hay 

 and grasses, and least in the case of timothy hay and spelt straw. 

 The high values reported in the table for protein of carrots and 

 molasses need some explanation. The percentage of protein in the 

 former is comparatively small, and it is doubtful if the figures reported 

 show the actual digestibility, as it is difficult to determine in the case 

 of a nutrient present in small quantities. In the case of molasses, the 

 greater part of the nitrogenous material consists of amids or other 

 nonalbuminoid bodies. It should be remembered that neither carrots 

 nor molasses is fed for protein, but rather for the carboh3^drates which 

 they contain. 



Generally speaking, the values obtained for the digestibility of fat 

 are rather low, the fat of oats being most digestible and that of peas 

 least digestible. In general it has been found that the determination 

 of the coefficients of the digestibility of fat presents more difficulty 

 than that of other nutrients. 



