308 PRODUCTIVE FARMING 



of commerce. It is derived from the stems of sugar-cane 

 and from the sugar-beet. Milk sugar is from the milk of the 

 cow and other animals. Grape or fruit sugar is abundant 

 in honey and sweet fruits and occurs in the juices of 

 many plants. 



Sugars are easily digested, as they are all readily soluble 

 in water. When animals eat sugar beets and sorghum fodder 

 the sugar is used directly as feed. Sugar is a very important 

 feed and although it occurs only in small quantities in 

 ordinary feeds, it is formed in large quantities from starch 

 during digestion. 



Fat. — The fat in animals agrees closely in composition 

 with that contained in plants. Fat exists in some seeds, as 

 flax and cotton, in such quantities as to make them valuable 

 as sources of oil, for feed and other uses. Most of the oil 

 is pressed out before the remainder of the seed is used 

 for feed. 



Exercise. — To Show Presence of Oil. — Get seeds of flax, 

 cotton, sunflower, or castor bean. Crush them and rub 

 between the fingers to detect the oil. It has been stored 

 there by plants for future use of the young plant sprouting 

 from the seed. 



Mineral Matter is what remains of plants after they have 

 been burned; it is the ash. Some plants, as alfalfa, are rich 

 in mineral matter. In ordinary fodders there is usually 

 enough to supply the needs of the animal body. Common 

 salt is fed separately. Hogs are fed with ashes and charcoal 

 from wood and cobs, to supply them with more mineral 

 matter. They even get much mineral matter from the 

 soil itself. 



Analysis of Feeds. — The State laws of most States author- 

 ize the agricultural experiment stations to take samples of 

 feeds offered for sale within the State and make analyses of 

 them. The reports of these analyses usually show the per 

 cent of total dry matter and water, and the per cents of 



