168 SCIENTIFIC FEEDING OF ANIMALS 



not possess any properties injurious to health, nor 

 does cabbage, which is highly prized for feeding 

 milch cows. The haulms of potatoes should not 

 be used as fodder ; they are very indigestible and 

 contain a powerful poison — solanine. In case of 

 necessity they may be made into sour fodder, but 

 they are best not used. 



7. Fodder from leaves and twigs. The leaves 

 of the ordinary foliage trees dried in July or August 

 give an inferior fodder about equal to poor meadow 

 hay, but which, in cases of necessity, is worth 

 feeding. 



Some leaves, e.g. beech, oak, alder, hazel, contain 

 a lot of tannin, which causes them to have a con- 

 stipatory effect if eaten in large quantities. The 

 leaves of the poplar, willow, and maple make the 

 best fodder, whilst the needles of the pine and fir 

 act injuriously upon the digestive and urinary 

 organs. The leaves and twigs of the yew contain 

 a deadly poison. Brushwood, cut in winter, has 

 very little value indeed as fodder, the woody 

 fibre being hardly digested at all; the twigs of 

 the acacia and the poplar are usually the best. 

 Sawdust is only very slightly acted upon by the 

 digestive juices, and diminishes the value of the 

 rest of the food (p. 90). 



