132 THE DOMESTIC SHEEP. 



ing mutter is called the protein of the food, this word signi- 

 fying the first necessity of life. 



Then we have to supply the fat. This is generally 

 laid up iti the manner we all know in the animal, through 

 its flesh, and on the interior of the body; the surplus is de- 

 posited on the outer part under the skin. 



Thus we have the protein, the carbo-hydrates, and the 

 fat, as the three elements of nutrition of the animal to be 

 supplied by the food. 



Foods of course vary in composition. Some consist of 

 the carbo-hydrates mostly, as corn; others are richer in pro- 

 tein, as bran: and some have more fat than others. As a 

 guide in the choice of the various kinds of foods we have 

 . some tables of the composition of those in common use, 

 with what is called the nutritive ratio given in a separate 

 column. It is a simple matter to choose the most suitable 

 foods for feeding from the list given, and by noting the 

 nutritive ratio, attached in the column provided for it, it is 

 an easy matter for the careful feeder to make up such n 

 ration as will be at once the best for the feeding effect, 

 and for the value of it in the markets when any purchased 

 foods are needed. 



Further on we shall return to this part of the subject, 

 considering at present the matter from its practical point of 

 view. 



The feeding of sheep is the most important part of the 

 process of improvement. Looking back over the history 

 of this animal we shall find that the feeding has always been 

 the first part of the process of improvement. This is rea- 

 sonable as well as indisputable, and we may take it as the 

 first and fundamental part of improvement, and the indis- 

 pensable preliminary to better breeding. For its character- 

 istics are inherited, as we must believe, then the habit of eating 

 and digesting the largest quantity of the best food, and turn- 

 ing this to growth of carcass or fleece, must be the first 

 weans of approach to an improved condition and standard. 

 So that the feeding must come first, and this inheritable apti- 

 tude for the making of growth, or of early maturity, be 

 made the basis of the improvement desired. Although this 

 view is stubbornly contested by some of the scientific people, 

 and breeding is placed first in this category of means of im- 



