CHAP. T. COMPOSITION OF FOOD STUFFS. 985 



necessary in the case of herbivorous animals for diluting or giving bulk 

 to the real feeding constituents of the food, which would escape proper 

 digestion if supplied in a too concentrated state. 



Water has not yet been referred to. Although not a food in the 

 same sense as the other constituents of diet, it is a necessary 

 accompaniment of them. All foods contain more or less water or 

 moisture, even the so-called " dry " foods, like grain. The so-called 

 " succulent " foods, such as green grass, cabbages, and roots, contain 

 a very large proportion of water, and when these are liberally used, 

 animals consume less water in the form of drink than when they are 

 fed mainly on dry foods, such as hay, chaff, and grain. A large use 

 of succulent food without the addition of dry or concentrated food is 

 often an evil, since the animal, in order to obtain the necessary 

 quantity of actual solid food existing in the succulent form, has to 

 take into its stomach more water than it needs. This is the case, for 

 instance, if sheep, in cold, wintry weather are fed wholly on turnips. 

 In order to get sufficient nutriment from the turnips, they have to eat 

 a quantity which gives them an unnecessarily large amount of water. 

 This water has to be raised to the high temperature of the animal's 

 body, and to raise it to this temperature a great deal of heat is 

 consumed, and to supply this heat food is burnt or oxidised which 

 might otherwise go towards fattening the animal. If a moderate 

 allowance of cake or meal (dry food) is given with the roots, it will be 

 found that less of the latter will be consumed, with a more economical 

 result. This is a point that appears to be very obvious when 

 attention is directed to it, but it is nevertheless one that is too often 

 lost sight of. 



Enough has now been said to prepare the reader to understand the 

 meanings to be attached to a numerical statement of the proportions 

 of the various feeding constituents contained in the principal kinds of 

 food in use on the farm, as ascertained by chemical analysis. It 

 should be at once stated, however, that the chemical composition of a 

 food (i.e., the proportions of albuminoids, oil, starch, fibre, water, &c., 

 contained in it) does not necessarily always indicate its feeding value. 

 The condition of the food and its palatability are most important 

 factors. An oilcake, for example, that may show a very good 

 percentage of oil, albuminoids, &c., may contain some impurity that 

 imparts a disagreeable flavour to it and prevents it from being relished 

 or freely eaten by stock, even if it contains nothing actually deleterious 

 to their health. On the other hand straw, chaff, and poor or badly 

 made hay, will often be better relished and, therefore, eaten with better 

 results if a little spice or condiment is added. 



The figures that are quoted on the next page as representing the 

 average composition of the foods commonly given to farm animals are 

 taken from Warington's "Chemistry of the Farm" (published by 

 Vinton & Co.), partly for the reason that they have been compiled by a 

 very trustworthy hand, and partly because they represent in every case 

 the mean of a large number of analyses. 



