CHAPTER XXXVI 



THE FEEDING OF ANIMALS 



THE COMPOSITION AND USES OF FEEDS 



The farmer who raises animals needs to know how to feed 

 them properly. Just as he needs to know the kind of soil to 

 which a plant is adapted and the right kind and amounts of 

 manure and fertilizer to apply to the land to make the plant 

 grow properly, so does he need to know the composition of 

 the various feeds and what effect they will have on these 

 animals when fed to them. In the food fed to animals are 

 found the elements necessary for the production of blood, 

 bone, muscle, fat, milk, wool, and tissues of all kinds. When 

 combined with the oxygen of the air, heat to keep the body 

 warm and energy for moving it are also supplied by the food. 



As soon as we begin to talk about feeding animals we have 

 to use a number of terms which are not understood by every 

 one. The various articles which are fed, such as hay, fodder, 

 grain, meals, etc., are called feeding stuffs. These feeding 

 stuffs are divided into two large classes; namely, nitrogenous 

 and non-nitrogenous feeds. As the soil and the air contain 

 a number of chemical elements which are necessary for the 

 growth of the plant, so do these feeding stuffs contain many 

 elements . necessary for the animal body. Among these we 

 may mention carbon, hydrogen, nitrogen, oxygen, sulphur, 



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