66 



PRINCIPLES OF FEEDING FARM ANIMALS 



points the same way, but it cannot be said to be conclusive as yet. 5 

 The question must be considered still open as to whether a scant 

 ration is digested more completely by farm animals than an ample 

 ration. This matter, however, is more of scientific interest than of 

 practical importance, as no stockman would want to starve or under- 

 feed his animals for the purpose of possibly securing thereby a more 

 complete percentage utilization of the feed. He would know that 

 stock so fed can never yield profitable returns. 



Drying and Preparation of Feeding Stuffs. The mere drying 

 of green or succulent feeds, where this is not accompanied by me- 

 chanical or fermentative losses, does not alter their digestibility. 

 According to Jordan, four of six feeds experimented with on this 

 point showed a slight difference in favor of the dried feeds, while 

 two gave the opposite result. It is very .certain, however, that as dry- 

 ing and curing of green fodder is carried on under ordinary field 

 conditions there are considerable losses from abrasion of dry and 

 brittle parts, and the remaining feed is, therefore, relatively richer 

 in coarse parts, and its digestibility lower than that of the green 

 feed. Attention was called to this fact in the discussion of the 

 feeding value of alfalfa hay. The losses from these sources are per- 

 haps greater in the case of leguminous hay crops than with other 

 kinds of hay, but they are appreciable in all cases where the harvest- 

 ing of the hay has been delayed until past bloom, or where the curing 

 has been done under conditions that would render the hay very dry 

 and cause a loss of leaves and tender parts of the plant. As a result, 

 hay or other dried feeds have generally been found to have a lower 

 digestibility than the original green or wet material. The following 

 table of digestion coefficients shows this to be true. As the green 

 and dry feeds of the same kind were not, as a rule, of similar origin, 

 the two sets of figures given are only comparable in a general way. 

 Digestion Coefficients for Green and Dry Feeding Stuffs, in Per Cent 



5 See Illinois Bulletin 172. 



