34 



DAIRY FARMING 



nutrients found in all feed stuffs; namely, protein, car- 

 bohydrates and ether extract. 



Protein is the nitrogenous part of feeds and is by far 

 the most valuable of the different groups of nutrients. 

 Its characteristic element is nitrogen. The white of egg 

 is almost pure protein. Cottonseed meal and linseed 

 meal are very rich in protein, and so are leguminous hays, 

 such as clover, alfalfa and cowpea hay. 



Carbohydrates contain no nitrogen but are made up 

 of carbon, hydrogen, and oxygen, containing the latter 

 two elements in the proportion to form water. Sugar and 

 starch are almost pure carbohydrates. Crude fiber is 

 another carbohydrate, which constitutes the woody, fibrous 

 part of plants. 



Ether extract is the part of feeds extracted by means 

 of ether, and consists largely of fats or oils. This group 

 of nutrients bears a close similarity to carbohydrates, 

 both in composition and in function; but owing to its 

 higher carbon content, its fuel value is 2.25 times that of 

 carbohydrates. Cotton seed and flax seed are very rich 

 in ether extract. 



Dry matter, as the term signifies, is the feed minus its 

 water. 



The variation in nutrients in different feeds is illus- 

 trated in the following table: 



TABLE I. Showing variation in nutrients in different 

 feeds. 



