CHAPTER X 



COMPUTING RATIONS ON BASIS OF 

 STARCH VALUES 



Starch as the Standard Nutrient. In the German 

 investigations with fattening oxen conducted by 

 Kellner typical representatives of the several food 

 nutrients were obtained and added one at a time to 

 a ration that gave a slight gain in weight. The 

 amounts of lean meat and fat were determined both 

 before and after the addition of the extra food. The 

 difference between the two gains was then assumed 

 as being a reasonable measure of the fattening effect 

 of the added food. After repeated trials it seemed 

 advisable to use starch as a standard by which other 

 nutrients or feeding stuffs might be measured. The 

 use of this nutrient in this way has given rise to the 

 term starch value, which means the quantity by 

 weight of any nutrient, or foodstuff, or ration that is 

 equivalent to starch for fattening or other produc- 

 tive purposes. 



Starch Value Illustrated. In one of Kellner's ex- 

 periments, a certain sample of linseed cake was 

 found to contain 34.5 per cent of digestible protein ; 

 26.1 per cent of digestible carbohydrates, including 

 the fiber; and 8.4 per cent of digestible fat. When 

 loo pounds of this was fed to a fattening ox, it was 

 found that the increase was the same as when 77 

 pounds of' starch were fed. From this it was con- 



