24 



and may be termed " vegetable meat." It has the same elementary 

 composition as animal flesh, and is considered the most valuable 

 part of the concentrated feeds. 



Non-nitrogenous Extract Matter consists of sugars, starch and 

 gums. The grains are very rich in starch and similar substances. 



Carbohydrates. — The fiber and extract matter have the same 

 functions in the process of nutrition, and collectively they are 

 termed carbohydrates. 



Nutritive Ratio. — The numerical relation which the protein of 

 a feed bears to the carbohydrates (and fat reduced to carbohy- 

 drates) is termed its nutritive ratio. Fat is multiplied by 2i to 

 convert it into carbohydrates. If a ton of feed should contain 96 

 pounds of digestible protein, and 928 pounds of digestible carbo- 

 hydrates, it would have 9.4 times as much carbohydrates as pro- 

 tein or 1 : 9.4, which is its nutritive ratio. 



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

 ment only so far as its various parts can be digested and assimi- 

 lated. That the concentrated feeds are much more digestible than 

 the coarse fodders may be shown from the following table : — 



Table I. 



The timothy hay has but 48.4 pounds of digestible matter, 

 while the cotton-seed has 65.3 pounds. 



In addition to their increased digestibility the concentrated feeds 

 as a rule possess a much higher protein content than the coarse 

 fodders. The above table shows the extremes, the timothy hav- 

 ing 3.02 pounds and the cotton-seed 36.6 pounds in 100. 



