84 FEEDS AND FEEDING 



would be required for her maintenance. The serious results which may 

 follow from feeding pregnant animals a ration deficient in lime have been 

 mentioned in a preceding paragraph. (98) 



Based on data from Eckles and P. F. Trowbridge 17 of the Missouri 

 Station, the body of an 80-lb. newborn calf contains about 14.0 Ibs. of 

 protein, 2.8 Ibs. mineral matter, and 2.5 Ibs. fat, an amount of protein 

 and mineral matter that would be contained in 400 Ibs. of milk of 

 average composition. 



In the case of an immature female, developing her own tissues as 

 well as those of the fetus, a liberal supply of these nutrients is especially 

 important. Fortunately, the mother is able to protect the offspring to 

 a certain extent against temporary or small deficiencies in her food by 

 drawing upon her own skeleton for the lime and phosphorus and her 

 muscular tissues for the protein necessary to the growing body of the 

 fetus. Such maternal protection is, however, at the expense of her own 

 body. The requirements for the various farm animals when pregnant 

 and the feeds best suited for their maintenance are discussed in the re- 

 spective chapters of Fart III. 



II. FATTENING 



122. The object of fattening It is well known that the accumula- 

 tion of fatty tissue, as such, is of secondary importance in fattening, 

 the main object being to improve the quality of the lean meat itself. 

 To some extent during growth, and especially during fattening, there is 

 a deposition of fat in the lean-meat tissue. A small portion of this may 

 be deposited within the muscular fibers themselves, but a much larger 

 part is stored between the bundles of fibers, constituting the so-called 

 "marbling" of meat. This deposition of fat adds to the tenderness, 

 juiciness, flavor, and digestibility of the meat, besides increasing its 

 nutritive value. There is also an increase in the soluble protein and in 

 other extractives of the muscles, resulting in a further betterment of the 

 quality of the meat as an additional advantage from fattening. 



123. Increase during fattening. The changes in the composition of 

 the bodies of farm animals during fattening were extensively studied by 

 Lawes and Gilbert of the Rothamsted Station 18 from analyses of the entire 

 bodies of oxen, sheep, and pigs slaughtered at different stages of fatten- 

 ing. They give data from which the following table is derived : 



Percentage composition of the increase of fattening animals 



Mineral Total dry 



Animal Protein Fat matter substance Water 



Per ct. Per ct. Per ct. Per ct. Per ct. 



Ox.. 7.7 66.2 1.5 75.4 24.6 



Sheep 7.1 70.4 2.3 79.9 20.1 



Pig. 6.4 71.5 0.1 78.0 22.0 



17 Information to the authors. 



18 Jour. Eoy. Agr. Soc., 1860. 



