92 



THE CHEMISTRY OF THE FARM. 



weight of maize, beans, or linseed cake will have a nearly 

 similar feeding value if supplied to an animal receiving a 

 sufficient amount of albuminoids in its diet, as for example 

 if given to a sheep fed on good meadow or clover hay. 



3. Proportion of An3uminoids to Non-Albuminoids. — 



A further point of great importance in determining the 

 value of a food is the proportion between the digestible 

 albuminoids, and the digestible non-nitrogenous con- 

 stituents : this relation we have already termed the " albu- 

 minoid ratio " of the food. In calculating this relation the 

 whole of the non-nitrogenous ingredients of the food are 

 first reduced, as already explained, to their equivalent in 

 starch. Taking the average composition of foods already 

 given, and the digestibility of their constituents shown by 

 the German experiments, the albuminoid ratios will be as 

 under : — 



