FEEDING STANDARDS: ORIGIN AND USE 



85 



feet, but it was a great step in advance. It enabled chemists 

 to figure out the amount of each nutrient digested under dif- 

 ferent conditions, so that in time they were able to prepare 

 for the use of farmers what is called "a table of digestible 

 nutrients." This table showed the total amount of dry mat- 

 ter in 100 pounds of different kinds of feed, and also the 

 number of pounds of digestible protein, carbohydrates, and 

 fat in every 100 pounds. In this table, for convenient refer- 

 ence, foods of similar sorts are grouped by themselves. For 

 example, roughage is all classed together, and this is divided 

 into three groups: as dried roughage, fresh green roughage, 

 and roots and tubers. Then the concentrates are arranged 

 by themselves, and these are also divided into groups. The 

 following is taken from a table of digestible nutrients, and 

 is used here to illustrate what has just been explained. No 

 attempt, however, is made below to group these feeds. 



This little table, which is made from a much longer one 

 giving the digestible nutrients in about all the different kinds 

 of food the American farmer is likely to feed,* shows that 100 

 pounds of alfalfa hay contains 91.4 pounds of dry matter. 



*Feeds and Feeding. Henry and Morrison, 1917. 



