THE DIGESTIBILITY OF FEEDINGSTUFFS 69 



the effect of palatability, however, as the increase in digest- 

 ibility is probably small at best. 



Cooking of Feeds. — Formerly, much labor and money 

 was expended by farmers in steaming and cooking feeds. 

 It has been found, however, that these processes do not 

 increase the digestibility, but, on the contrary, they usually 

 decrease it. Cooking decreases the digestibihty of the pro- 

 tein especially. Potatoes and other starchy tubers are an 

 exception to the rule, as their digestibihty is increased by 

 cooking. At the Oregon Experiment Station,^ Withycombe 

 and Bradley found that the steaming of vetch and of 

 corn silage decreased considerably the digestibihty of the 

 ration. 



Sweating and fermenting of feeds usually decrease the 

 digestibihty. On the other hand, the palatability of some 

 feeds may be increased by such treatment and thereby make 

 possible the consumption of material which otherwise 

 would not be eaten at all. Thus while corn silage is not as 

 thoroughly digested as corn fodder, it is more valuable as a 

 feed because of its palatable and succulent nature. Brown 

 hay shows an increased digestibihty of crude fiber but de- 

 creased digestibihty of protein and nitrogen-free extract. 



Soaking of Feeds. — In the case of very hard, flinty corn, 

 soaking for several hours previous to feeding may increase 

 its digestibihty, especially if the animals to which it is fed 

 are old and have defective teeth. 



Grinding of Feeds. — Grinding of the feed probably in- 

 creases the digestibihty to a certain extent. Jordan ^ states 

 that in expcM-iments with horses, grinding increased the 

 digestibihty of corn and oats 3 to 14 per cent, of corn alone 



1 Bui. 102. 2 " The Feeding of Animals," p. 133. 



