146 AGRICULTURAL EXPERIMENT STATION. [Jan. 



YIII. 



DIGESTION EXPERIMENTS. 

 1. DIGESTION EXPERIMENTS WITH SHEEP. 



By J. B. LiNDSEY, R. H. Smith and E. B. Holland, 



During the past year we have continued the study of the 

 digestibility of the concentrated by-products so freely offered 

 for sale in our eastern markets. Especial attention has been 

 given to the gluten feeds and meals. The results obtained 

 with the gluten feeds are not as yet decisive. The coeffi- 

 cients of digestibility, in case of difi'erent samples of these 

 feeds, appear to vary considerably. Whether this is caused 

 by the method of preparation is not as yet clear. Additional 

 tests will be made. 



Value of Digestion Experiments. 



1. A food is valuable as a source of nourishment only in 

 so far as its various constituents can be digested and assimi- 

 lated. Two kinds of hay, one early and the other late cut, 

 might be consumed in equal quantities by an animal, yet the 

 early cut hay, having more digestible matter, would prove 

 the more valuable fodder. 



For one to form an intelligent opinion as to the value of 

 different fodder stuffs, the amount of digestible matter they 

 contain must be known. 



2. In order to combine the different fodder stuffs so as to 

 obtain properly balanced rations for our farm stock, one 

 should know the percentages of the different digestible con- 

 stituents contained in each of the several foods. 



