Digestion Experiments ll'ith I Tethers. 



more is necessary, however. In addition to knowing the per- 

 centages of digestible nutrients in any feed or ration, we must 

 know the total amount in weight of these nutrients required 

 by the animal for the most economical returns. A great many 

 feeding experiments have been conducted with this end in 

 view, and the results of these experiments have been embodied 

 in tables called Feeding Standards, which show the amount of 

 digestible nutrients to be fed the various classes of domestic 

 animals each day per 1,000 pounds of live weight. An ex- 

 ample of such a feeding standard is given below : 



FEEDING STANDARD FOR FARM ANIMALS. 

 ( WOLFF-LEHMANN. ) 



ANIMAL 



Fattening sheep. 



Such standards, of course, cannot be taken as absolutely 

 accurate, because individual animals and groups of animals 

 vary in their food requirements and because average analyses 

 of feeds must be used, while the actual feed used will not more 

 than approximate an average analysis. The standards, how- 

 ever, come very near to the needs of most animals, and a 

 ration compounded according to the standard can easily be 

 varied to suit the needs of the animals on feed in any par- 

 ticular instance, while a ration which does not approach the 

 standard in quantity or composition will almost surely fail to 

 produce the best results obtainable. 



The error due to the use of average analyses in the com- 

 pounding of rations is overcome to some extent for some Wyo- 

 ming fodders in this bulletin. Analyses made at this station 

 of some of our forage plants show that they differ markedly in 

 composition from eastern forage plants. The experiments re- 

 ported in this bulletin give new analyses and percentages of 



