368 REPORT OF THE COMillSSIONER OF AGRieUIiTHRE. 



Twelfth. That the best practice of f eeflin;j is to re;;ul.ite the character of the food by 

 the character of the animals fed ; feeding superior cows nearer to the limit of their 

 production than inferior cows; feeding\,if for butter, more concentrated and nutritious 

 foods than for q^ieese; feeding for cheese product succulent material, which will in- 

 crease the quantitj^ of the millc-yield. 



A paper on the results of late European experiments in the feeding 

 of cattle was read by Prof. W. O. Atwater, of Wesleyau University. 

 The experiments alluded to have been prosecuted during: the past fifteen 

 years at the principal agricultural stations of Europe. The tables given 

 are valuable and worthy the close study of those engaged in rearing 

 cattle, but are of too great length to receive special mention in this 

 brief review. A few of the conclusions draAvn from the result of these 

 experiments may be briefly noticed. Some of the trials made to test 

 the effect of boiling, steaming, and fermenting fodder, with a view to 

 increasing its nutritive qualities, showed that its digestibility did not 

 appear to be increased by these means; still, the food was made more 

 palatable, and, in cold weather, some advantage is derived from warm 

 food. The nutritive effect of food may, therefore, be increased by these 

 means, while its digestibility may be but slightly increased. The state- 

 ments concerning the proportions of crude foods, as hay, clover, straw, 

 green fodder, &c., that auimals digest, apply only to cases where they 

 are fed either alone or with pro])cr admixtures of other foods. Very 

 often, however, the digestible parts of the food arc not all digested. It 

 is easy, for instance, to mix potatoes or turnips with hay or clover in 

 such proportions that the animals will digeat much less of the hay than 

 they would if the different foods were used in proper amounts. There 

 are likewise some kinds of fodder, as straw, chaff, and corn-stalks, of 

 which many farmers make but little account, and yet whicli contain a 

 great deal of nutritive matter. In ordinary practice much of this is 

 wasted, when, if mingled with other foods, it might be saved. As to the 

 digestibility of different foods, Professor Atwater says : 



Wbothor all the digestible and nutritious matter of a ration is actually digested or 

 not depends largely upon the relative amounts of nitrogenous materials it contains. 

 In general, when concentrated foods, ricli in nitrogen, are added to crude foods, as hay 

 and clover, tl^y do not decrease the digestion of the latter. But the addition of large 

 quantities of casily-digeatiblo materials, containing little albuminoids and much starch, 

 sugar, &c., to crude foods, prevents the digestion of part of the latter, and tlius causes 

 "waste. Tho scarcity of hay and clover, and the ever-increasing neccosity of using oil- 

 cakes, beaus, pease, grains, and other foods, has given great importance to these matters, 

 and a largo number of feeding trials have been lately made with oxen, cows, and sheep, 

 SbC., to discover the facts pertaining thereto, and their explanation. Tho general plan 

 of these experiments is as follov/s: The animal — a cow, for instance — is fed for a cer- 

 tain time Avith liay or clover alone, and the proportion of tho albuminoids and carbo- 

 hydrates which she digests from tho hay is determined by weighings and analyses of 

 food and excrement. Then, for some time, an easily-digestible albuminoid substance, 

 as gluten, is added to tho ration, and tho otleet on tho digestion of tho hay is noted. 

 Or, instead of tho albuminoid substance alone, food-materials rich in nitrogen, as oil- 

 cake, beau-meal, or bran, aroused and their eli'ect likewise determined. In other ex- 

 periments, carbo-hydrates, as sugar, or starch, or easily-digested foods containing much 

 of these and little nitrogen, as potatoes, are mixed with the hay or clover, and thus 

 their influence on the digestion is determined. 



The general results of these experiments are : 



First. As to the elfect of albuminoids. The addition of even considerable quantrties 

 of easily-digestible substances rich in nitrogen to crude fodder-materials causes no 

 change in the digestion of tho latter. As large a percentage of both albuminoids and 

 carbo-hydrates of hay was digested by oxen, cows, and sheep when 1 he hay was mixed 

 with gluten, bran-meal, rape and linseed cake, tfcc, as when the hay was fed alone. 



Second. As to the etlects of carbo-hydrates. When non-nitrogenous substances, as 

 starch, or sugar, or easily-digestible foods containing nnicli of these ami little nitrogen, 

 are added to crude foods, as hay, straw, and clover, the digestion of the latter is do- 

 creased, and, what seems paradoxical, it is not tho carbo-hydrates alone, but rather the 



