198 



ELEMENTS OF AGRICULTURE 



CHAPTER XXXVII.— Stock Food 



193. Need for Fixing the Amounts of Food Supplied 

 Animals. — In stall-feeding the animal must be sup- 

 plied with the proper amounts of food to keep it in 

 good condition. How are we to know just how much 

 food different animals require to keep them in condi- 

 tion ? We may guess at the proper amounts, or we may 

 feed the animal till it will eat no more, but both of 

 these methods are liable to cause mistakes. Animals 

 are greedy, and, if allowed, will often eat more than is 

 good for them. So it is best to know- just how much 

 food to give them. Xow there is a method of deter- 

 mining how much food different animals require to 

 keep them in condition. Let us see what it is. 



194. Digestion. — Plants from the elements of earth, 

 air, and water buird up the compounds that go to 

 form them. Animals build up their bodies from the 

 compounds formed by the plants. The compounds of 

 the plants are made over in the animal body into other 

 compounds, and the process is called digestion. The 

 process of digestion is a very complicated one, and is 

 not thoroughly understood; so we' need not consider 

 it just now. It is enough for our purpose to know 

 that animals in building up their bodies use the com- 

 pounds formed by plants. These foods are taken into 

 the animal's stomach where portions of the different 

 compounds are digested, which means that they become 



