LEAVES AND TWIGS. 695 



It is calculated, that 150 Ibs. of leaf-fodder without twigs, 

 125 Ibs. with twigs, are equivalent to 100 Ibs. of moderately 

 good hay. Grandeau found that the dry substance of year- 

 ling twigs without leaves, and of hay, had the following 

 composition : 



Beech. Oak. Hay. 



Protein .... 11-08 14'40 11-10 



Oil 1-30 2-97 2*70 



Fibres .... 34'15 30'14 3*60 



Extract without nitrogen . 49'32 47*64 47'20 



Ashes .... 1-15 4-85 7.40 



According to the researches of the Agricultural Academy at 

 Bonn, twig-fodder is useless for farm-horses; ruminants 

 tli rive better on it, sheep best of all. Birch twigs are best, 

 then beech ; hornbeam is worst. Green twigs are always 

 better than dry twigs : the valuable parts of the twigs for 

 fodder are their bark and buds ; only in years when fodder 

 is scarce, can twigs be considered as a substitute for hay or 

 straw. Raivmini and Lawe's experiments to chop up twigs by 

 machinery for fodder has proved unsuccessful. 



In evergreen conifers the twigs are more valuable as litter 

 than as fodder. The toughness of roots prevents their use as 

 fodder. The injurious utilization of leaves and twigs is 

 secured in various ways ; there are country districts, espe- 

 cially in warm countries outside Germany, in which regular 

 coppices of broadleaved species, similar to osier-beds, with 

 1 to 2 years' rotation, are maintained expressly for fodder ; in 

 others, pollards are used, or trees are lopped for the purpose. 

 The most harmful form of this usage is when young saplings 

 in coppice, coppice-with-standards and high forest, are 

 lopped; the utilisation of leaves and twigs from trees felled 

 in the ordinary way alone can be recommended (Neurneister) . 

 The instruments used are knives, billhooks, hatchets, or 

 shears for small pieces. 



Leaves and twigs serve for feeding domestic animals, more 

 rarely for deer; sheep and goats, less frequently cattle and 

 horses, are fed with either green or dried material. Only in 



