

FEEDING OF ANIMALS. 275 



one, and, weight for weight, not much more costly. But, 

 since in recent years the vegetable products most benefited 

 by nitrogenous manures have been so largely imported as 

 much to reduce the value of the home-grown crops, even this 

 advantage of highly nitrogenous food-stuffs is becoming of less 

 importance, and that of having the best food for the progress 

 of the animal one of more and more consideration. 



The question obviously suggests itself, of what does the in- 

 crease of the animal chiefly consist ? To experimental evidence 

 on this point attention will next be directed. 



Composition of Oxen, Sheep, and Pigs, and of theie 

 Increase whilst Fattening. 



It is proposed to show the composition of some of the 

 animals of the farm, in different conditions as to age and 

 fatness ; to estimate the probable composition of their increase 

 in live- weight during the fattening process ; and to show the 

 relation of the constituents in the increase to those consumed 

 in the food. The results which have been obtained will also 

 afford data for the discussion of the question of the sources 

 in the food of the fat produced in the animal body ; they will 

 further supply evidence as to the composition of the manure 

 in relation to that of the food consumed ; and lastly, they will 

 lead to a consideration of the characteristic food-requirements 

 of the body in the exercise of force. 



To determine the ultimate composition, and in a sense the Animals 

 proximate composition also, of oxen, sheep, and pigs, and ex P e p- 

 under such conditions that the results obtained should serve upon. 

 as data for the estimation of the probable composition of 

 their increase whilst growing and fattening, ten animals were 

 selected for analysis — namely, a fat calf, a half-fat ox, and a 

 fat ox ; a fat lamb, a store sheep, a half-fat old sheep, a fat 

 sheep, and an extra-fat sheep ; a store pig, and a fat pig. 



Table 68 (p. 276) shows the percentage of mineral matter, of Table 68 

 nitrogenous compounds, of fat, of total dry substance, and of ex P latned - 

 water — in the upper division in the collective carcass parts, in 

 the middle division in the collective offal parts (excluding 

 contents of stomachs and intestines), and in the lower division 

 in the entire bodies of the ten animals ; the weight of the 

 contents of stomachs and intestines being also given. 



It may in the first place be observed that, comparing one Relation of 

 animal with another, all the results tend to show a prominent ^IteTmid 

 connection between the amount of total mineral matter and the nitro- 

 that of the nitrogenous constituents of the body ; there being ^^ntTof 

 a general terdency to a rise or fall in the percentage of the body. 



