DIGESTIBILITY OF FOODS 97 



In this manner a large amount of useful information 

 with regard to the composition of foods and the digesti- 

 bility of same has been accumulated. Obviously it is 

 only the digestible part which is available for mainten- 

 ance and production, and for this purpose it is advisable 

 to know that the proportion of digestible albuminoids 

 is sufficient in the ration. 



Individuality in Animals. One thing which strikes 

 the experimenter is the difference in results he obtains 

 from fattening a given number of cattle, sheep, or pigs 

 on a given ration. Although the individuals which 

 are being fed on the same ration may be of the same 

 breed, may even be the same live weight at the 

 commencement of the experiment, and may look a 

 very level lot, yet at the close of the experiment the 

 individual increases in live weight would vary consider- 

 ably. Take, for example, the recent cattle-feeding 

 experiments of the Edinburgh and East of Scotland 

 Agricultural College (Report 31). In Lot I., which was 

 fed on linseed cake and Bombay cotton cake with 

 swedes and oat straw for nineteen weeks, the following 

 results were obtained with three black cattle : 



Bullock. 



No. 10 

 No. 9 

 No. I 



The different capacities of these three cattle for 

 increasing in live weight during fattening is most 

 marked, and is due to what is called their " individuality " 

 or " individual capacity" for fattening. The same thing 

 applies to horses, sheep, and pigs. There are " good 

 doers " and " bad doers " in each class. 



Further, the amount of food per day of a given 



G 



