258 SCIENTIFIC FEEDING OF ANIMALS 



times noticed when the ration contains more than 

 ij-lf lbs. digestible fat. The latter quantity 

 may therefore be regarded as the limit, and only 

 exceptionally should as much as i lb. fat per 

 iooo lbs. live weight be given to ruminants. Pigs 

 are able to take more than this, and young animals 

 when fed on milk also have the ability to consume 

 large quantities of fat — more than 2 lbs. — without 

 disturbance to health. 



By means of various investigations (p. 76) the 

 proof has been given that some oils and lats can 

 be partially stored up as body fat, and so alter the 

 properties of the latter, a fact which possesses 

 practical importance. The body fat of ruminants, 

 which arises chiefly from the carbohydrates, pos- 

 sesses a hard, tallowy consistency which may be 

 much improved by feeding certain oily foods if 

 the animal is intended for the butcher. An experi- 

 ment with four groups of fattening lambs which 

 received a basal ration of hay, straw, and beet 

 slices showed that when 6- 16 kg. maize and 6-63 kg. 

 of sunflower-seed cake were added to the basal 

 ration an excellent quality of meat, with soft fat, 

 was obtained, whereas the addition of 10-58 kg. of 

 crushed peas and 1-19 kg. of wheat husks gave a 

 very poor product, the fat being hard and crumbly. 

 Where the addition was n 75 kg. of wheat husks 

 and 4-69 kg. rape cake the fat was moderately 

 soft, and the same result was got from 373 kg. 



