NUTRITIVE VALUE OF FOOD. 109 



a rule than that of the latter ; for the more time is allowed for 

 development, the more complete will be the changes that are 

 necessary to make the constituents of the plant digestible, and 

 to develop those vegetable principles which give flavour to the 

 fodder. It appears that the percentage of fibre is proportionate 

 to the luxuriance of growth. It is a fact of every-day know- 

 ledge that fruit which has become ripe in the open air, is more 

 wholesome and better flavoured than similar fruit which has 

 been forced. In the growth of tea we have an admirable 

 instance of the good influence of time in the production of 

 agreeable flavour and in reducing the amount of deleterious 

 constituents. Thus we find in the case of Indian tea, that the 

 slowly growing hill leaves of Kangra Valley, Kooloo and 

 Darjeeling are Tar superior in aroma to the luxuriant low- 

 country leaves of Assam, and that they possess a smaller per- 

 centage of compounds which, like tannin, have a hurtful effect 

 on the digestive organs. 



The necessity of a full supply of solar heat in the pro- 

 duction of fodder for horses, is well shown by the fact 

 that doob grass (creeping dog's-tooth grass ; cynodon dactylori], 

 which is the best Indian grass, is grown on dry and poor 

 sandy soil, over which it usually spreads more or less as 

 a creeper. When, on the contrary, it is well watered, it 

 springs up luxuriantly like other grasses, but is not as 

 nutritious as when its growth has been retarded by lack 

 of moisture. The foregoing observations and the knowledge 

 that the digestive organs of the horse are not fitted for 

 the reception of large quantities of coarse fodder, point to 

 the conclusion that grass grown in the shade, or under the 

 influence of stimulating manures, is not a good food for 

 horses. The presence of lime in grass lands, whether 

 naturally or by the addition of bone manure or lime, is an 

 advantage, especially in the rearing of young stock ; for the 

 proportion of lime in grass grown on such land is much higher 



