FODDERS AND FEEDS. 155 



same manner the nutrients in sucli products as hay and 

 straw frequently pass through the animal undigested, 

 because they are surrounded by the woody and almost 

 impervious fibre of the cell wall, which prevents the 

 attack of the digestive fluids. 



Fodders, therefore, on account of the great proportion 

 of fibre they contain, are less digestible than the finely 

 ground concentrated feeds. The cutting and crushing 

 of the coarse fodders, and the fine grinding of the vari- 

 ous grains and seeds, favorably influence the rate of 

 digestibility. The digestibility of a fodder or a feed 

 is also influenced by other conditions, such as the pro- 

 portion of the three classes of food constituents con- 

 tained in it ; the period of growth at time of harvesting 

 the forage ; methods of curing and storage ; the kind 

 or breed of animal to which it is fed ; the age of the 

 animal, its* individual peculiarities ; and many other in- 

 fluences of a minor character, all of which should be 

 regarded io the preparation of rations. 



The Digestion Co-efficients; Their Derivation and 

 Use. — The relative digestibility of the different prod- 

 ucts for various purposes under ordinary conditions of 

 feeding, have been determined by actual feeding experi- 

 ments. Such experiments have been conducted both 

 here and in Europe, and the data derived from a large 

 number are of great service in determining the com- 

 parative value of the different feeds. In these experi- 

 ments, the food and manure are weighed, and the 

 analyses made ; and the difference between the total 

 amount of the constituents in the food and in the 

 dung shows how much of each has been digested ; 



