CIRCUMSTANCES AFFECTING DIGESTIBILITY. 



103 



power is apparently equal to that of animals of full age. 

 Sheep from six to fourteen months old showed no distinct 

 change in digestive capacity. 



Differences in the quantity of the daily ration of hay do 

 not sensibly affect the proportion digested ; an animal will 

 not digest more by being starved. Labour is also prac- 

 tically without influence ; horses at rest and at work digest 

 nearly the same proportion of their food. The cooking 

 of food is generally of doubtful advantage ; beans, maize, 

 and bran are not better digested by horse or ox when 

 previously soaked in water. Barley, maize and pea 

 meal have been found more nourishing for pigs when fed 

 dry than when previously cooked. Differences in the 

 quality of a food may, however, exercise a great in- 

 fluence on its digestibility : the addition of another food 

 may also considerably alter the rate of digestion of the 

 first food. 



The digestibility of fodder plants is mainly determined 

 by their age ; all the constituents of a young plant are 

 more digestible than in the same plant of greater age. 

 The composition of meadow grass cut at three different 

 dates has been already given on page 93 ; the three 

 cuttings were supplied to sheep in the form of hay, and 

 the following digestion coefficients were obtained : 

 DIGESTION OF HAY BY SHEEF. 



