Preserving Green Forage 49 



succulent foods the cellular tissues have not 

 been converted into woody fibre, and in masti- 

 cation and digestion all of the nutritive sub- 

 stances in these cells are quickly acted upon 

 by the saliva of the mouth, and then the gas- 

 tric juices of the stomach, and all the nutri- 

 ment is assimilated with only a minimum 

 expenditure of force by the animal economy 

 to digest it. The natural moisture of the 

 plants, when green, also acts as a compensa- 

 tion, and requires but little beyond the gastric 

 juice to make the food fluid enough for diges- 

 tion. With dry food, nature is heavily taxed 

 at all points t to make good the loss of the 

 juices or moisture of the food. The secretions 

 of the mouth are called upon to moisten the 

 dry food. The woody fibre of the plants must 

 be broken down and disintegrated by the power 

 of gastric juice to set free the real nutriment of 

 the food. This force is several times greater 

 than is necessary when succulent food is fed. 

 All this extra expenditure of force must be 

 supplied by the animal, and therefore calls for 

 an increased amount of food to make good this 

 demand, or else the animal falls off in flesh. 



