312 ARID AGRICULTURE. 



of the total energy contained in hay may be used 

 up by a horse in the mere process of chewing the 

 hay. Something over 2 per cent, of the energy 

 which may be obtained from oats is used up in 

 working the muscles which move the jaws and 

 grind the grain so it may be digested. Some of 

 this energy may be saved to the animal by chop- 

 ping the hay and grinding the grain. Many of 

 our best feeders have come to believe that it is a 

 matter of economy and profit to always grind the 

 grain which is fed to fattening animals. It 

 takes a portion of the energy obtained from food 

 to carry on each of the life processes in the ani- 

 mal, as breathing, digestion, working the heart, 

 thinking, etc. The actual amount and right pro- 

 portion of food required to carry on the life pro- 

 cesses is called a maintenance ration, and the 

 food eaten in addition to this supplies growth, 

 produces work or lays on fat. 



FEEDING AS Feeding as an art, or the practice of supply- 



m & animals with food, is as old as the livestock 

 industry, but the science of feeding is very new. 

 By science we mean a knowledge of why and 

 how the various foods give the results they do 

 when fed to various animals. ~Not knowing why 

 certain foods gave certain results, our forefath- 

 ers could not tell why they made or lost money 

 from feeding their animals, and consequently 

 made the same mistakes over and over again. 

 However, by long experience, they did learn 



