"vegetable meat." It has the same elementary composition as 

 animal flesh, and is the most valuable part of a feed. 



Fiber or cellulose is the coarse or woody part of a plant. It may 

 be called the plant's framework. It is present as a rule only to a lim- 

 ited extent in the grains and by-products. 



Non-nitrogenous extract matter consists of sugars, starch and gums. 

 The cereals are especially rich in starch and similar substances. 



Fat includes not only the various oils and fats found in different 

 feed stuffs, but also waxes, resins and coloring matters. It is some- 

 times termed ether-extract, because it is that portion of a plant solu- 

 ble in ether. The fat found in grains and seeds is comparatively free 

 from foreign substances (waxes, resins, etc.) 



Carbohych-ates. — The liber and extract matter have the same 

 functions in the process of nutrition, and together are termed 

 carbohydrates. 



JVutritive Ratio. — The numerical relation which the protein of a 

 feed bears to the carbohydrates (and fat reduced to carbohydrates) 

 is called its nutritive ratio. Fat is multiplied by 2.25 to convert it 

 to carbohydrates. If a ton of feed should contain 60 pounds of 

 digestible protein, and 948 pounds of digestible carbohydrates, it 

 would have 15.8 times as much carbohydrates as protein or i : 15.8, 

 which is its nutritive ratio. (See timothy hay). 



Digestibility. — Any feed stufl: is valuable as a source of nourish- 

 ment only so far as its various constituents can be digested and 

 assimilated. That the concentrated feeds are much more digestible 

 than the coarse fodders may be shown by the following table : 



The timothy hay has only 48.5 pounds of digestible organic mat- 

 ter, while the gluten meal has 76.9 pounds. 



