FEEDING STANDARDS: ORIGIN AND USE 



275 



it was a great step in advance. It enabled chemists to figure 

 out the amount of each nutrient digested under different 

 conditions, so that in time they were able to prepare for the 

 use of farmers what is called "a table of digestible nutri- 

 ents. " This table showed the total amount of dry matter 

 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 reference, 

 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 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 corn meal contains 85 pounds of dry matter. 

 In this 85 pounds, of the digestible material of use to an 



*Feeds and Feeding. W. A. Henry, 1912. 



