442 DISEASES OF CATTLE. 



heat lias driven off the water and the difference in the two weights 

 represents the water which the sample contained. The average amount 

 of water found in the various samples in the list is placed in the column 

 headed " Water." It will be seen that the proportion of water in the 

 different feed stuffs varies greatly. In 100 pounds of pasture grass 

 there are 75.3 pounds of water on an average; with roots the amount 

 reaches as high as 90 pounds, while for straw and grain it varies from 

 8 to 1C pounds of water per hundred weight. Water is the great vehicle 

 for transporting food both in the plant and animal, and, while of the 

 highest importance to both, it is so universal and abundant that we 

 need not further consider it at this time. 



Ash. Carefully burning a sample of the fodder, the chemist deter- 

 mines the ash. By the table we find that in 100 pounds of pasture 

 grass there are 2.5 pounds ash, while in clover hay there are over 6 

 pounds. One hundred pounds of shelled corn contains only 1.5 pounds 

 of ash, while the same weight of wheat bran yields over 5 pounds. The 

 ash elements in plants are very important, since they enter into the 

 composition of all the tissues of the body in a small way, and form the 

 larger part of the bones. Experience shows that when the stockman 

 feeds his animals abundantly with a variety of nutritious foods they 

 are amply supplied with ash for all necessities of the body, so that as 

 with water this part of the plant substance need not receive special 

 attention when considering the constituents of feeds, though there are 

 a few special cases where the supply of ash is apt to be lacking, even 

 when the animals are seemingly well nourished. 



Crude protein marks a very important group of substances in fodders, 

 the characteristic element of all being nitrogen . The chemist has found 

 that protein compounds weigh C.25 times as much as the nitrogen con- 

 tained ; by a complicated process he determines the weight of nitrogen 

 in a sample of feed, and multiplies this by 6.25, which gives the crude 

 protein. A considerable portion of the bones, the ligaments which hold 

 the bones together, the muscles which surround the bones, the tendons 

 which bind the muscles to the bone, and the great nervous system, as 

 well as the internal organs of the body, are largely composed of protein 

 compounds. From this we can readily understand that protein is a very 

 important part of stock foods, being especially needed with young, grow- 

 ing animals. We turn with interest to the table and note that the total 

 crude protein in pasture grass is 4 pounds to the hundred, while in 

 oats there are 11.8 pounds, in corn, 10.5 pounds, and nearly 33 pounds 

 in 100 of linseed meal. 



Crude fiber is determined by boiling a sample of the fodder first with 

 a weak alkali, and then with a weak acid in order to dissolve out as 

 much of the substance as possible. The uudissolved portions represent 

 the tougher parts of the framework of the plant, usually termed cellu- 

 lose or crude fiber. The table shows that a large portion of rye straw 

 is crude fiber, while in grains like corn or wheat the amount is very 

 small. 



