i86 PLANT PRODUCTS 



It is only in the case of the root crops and hay that any 

 serious error would be introduced by neglecting to measure 

 the amides separately. 



The Carbohydrates.— Sugar is much appreciated by 

 stock, as it gives a considerable flavour to the food, and is 

 often valuable to the farmer by inducing stock to eat other- 

 wise not very palatable articles. The sugars found in cattle 

 foods are cane sugar and glucose. Whilst these materials 

 are much appreciated by stock, experimental evidence 

 shows that their body-building power is lower than that 

 of the starches, but as such experimental results can only 

 be obtained by feeding sugar in large quantities, it is 

 probable that they do not reflect the conditions of ordinary 

 farm practice. Sugar, being instantly soluble in water, 

 will enter the blood stream, and pass through the liver at 

 a great rate. Very small quantities of sugar will not throw 

 any strain upon the liver. It is, therefore, to be expected 

 that the food value of sugar will depend largely upon the 

 amounts fed, and that, whilst it may have a high value when 

 the quantity is small, it may have a low value when the 

 quantity is large. In practice, owing to the expense, large 

 quantities of sugar are probably not fed. In the case of 

 stock consuming large quantities of swedes, the total amount 

 of sugar fed is very considerable. Swedes contain more than 

 one-half of their total solid material in the form of sugar, 

 and if these constitute half of the dry matter fed, it would 

 mean that 25 per cent, of the ration was sugar. Experience 

 shows that this is not economical, the inefficiency of heavy 

 root feeding being generally attributed to the water being 

 in excess, but it may partly be due to the sugar also being 

 in excess. Sugar which is consumed by beasts in the form 

 of swede turnips would not be digested at the same rate 

 as sugar in the form of treacle, and, therefore, the strain 

 upon the liver would not be so marked. Possibly this in 

 the explanation why feeding sugar in the form of roots 

 appears to be more satisfactory than feeding it in the more 

 concentrated form. 



Starch. — In the case of feeding animals there does not 



