THREE KINDS OF FEEDS 



359 



wrong. The wise breeder aims at two qualities, per- 

 formance and ability to reproduce. The cow that gives a 

 large quantity of good milk is to be preferred, in breeding, 

 to the cow with the most perfect color markings. But 

 even that high-producing cow is of little value to the 



BEEF CATTLE IN PASTURE. 



dairy world if her calves are few, or weak, or of inferior 

 quality. 



264. Feeding. In getting good results from the farm 

 animals, feeding is next to breeding in importance. 



We have learned in Chapter VIII that plants are nour- 

 ished by such simple foods as nitrates, phosphates, and 

 potash in the soil. Animals cannot make use of these 

 foods directly. It is the work of plants to transform these 

 simple substances into more complex bodies by combining 

 them with other simple compounds like water and carbon 

 dioxide. 



265. Three Kinds of Feeds. In this way, plants form 

 three main kinds of food for animals, proteins, carbohy- 

 drates, and fats. Some mention of these has been made 

 in Chapter XI. In most vegetables and grains, the three 

 are combined in some proportion. But protein occurs 

 nearly pure in the white of an egg; carbohydrate, in 



