DEFINITIONS AND TECHNICAL CONSIDERATIONS. 343 



A fact now generally admitted is that cattle in general, when in a good 

 healthy condition, will eat the amount of fodder per diem that their require- 

 ments may demand; but it is not admissible that, by reducing the value of a 

 ration, a greater assimilation can be realized. The coefficient of digestibility 

 remains constant whether one, two or three pounds of clover hay are fed to 

 sheep per diem without addition of other fodders. All these experiments are 

 very limited and the conclusions obtained are to be accepted only with a cer- 

 tain reserve. 



It is admitted that every element is digested in the same manner regardless 

 of the condition in which it is furnished, whether in a dry or fresh state. At 

 first this seems to be a paradox, but can not be doubted, as it agrees with prac- 

 tical tests made under most varied conditions. An essential requisite is that 

 the fresh and dried fodders be exactly of the same composition. "While such 

 results may be obtained with fresh or dried beet cossettes, with coarse fodders 

 it is almost impossible to realize them, as the method of harvesting and dry- 

 ing may have great influence. The exact influence that the water of a fodder 

 has upon milk, is still an open question. Whether water added to dry cossettes, 

 for example, produces the same effect as the water contained in sliced beets, 

 experiments have not yet been made in sufficient number to determine. The 

 method of storing coarse fodders has considerable influence on their digesti- 

 bility. Experiments upon hay show that 62 per cent, of its protein was 

 digested when used, after being recently harvested; only 54 per cent, was 

 digested three months later, while the digestibility of crude fibre and nitrogen- 

 free extract remained almost constant. The great losses attributed to coarse 

 fodders are frequently due to there having been some neglect in siloing. The 

 period of development of a plant has considerable influence on its digestibility; 

 if fed during the first period the fibre is very tender and is almost entirely assimi- 

 lated. Seventy-one per cent, of protein of green clover, cut before flowering, 

 when fed to an ox was digested, while several months later only 40 per cent, 

 was digested. The early cut fodders contain a much smaller percentage of 

 protein than is found later, which is another explanation of its increased di- 

 gestibility. To these conditions must be added the influence of climate, soil, 

 fertilizer, etc. Method of preparing a fodder has an important influence 

 upon its digestibility cooking, maceration, etc.. may give good results in 

 special ways. Hellriegel and Lncanus. by a series of experiments, demon- 

 strated that straw that had been fermented and fed to animals underwent no 

 variation in its coefficient of digestibility. With hay the digestibility of 

 cellulose was slightly increased, while on the other hand, the digestibility of 

 nitrogen-free extract was lessened. Just why this should be the case is not 

 stated. There can be no doubt that the palatability of a fodder may be in- 

 creased by judicious preparation, under which circumstance animals eat very 

 much more than they would have done had the special preparation not been 

 resorted to. Consequently, satisfactory results may be thus obtained, notwith- 

 standing the fact that the percentage of nutrients assimilated would be only to 

 a limited extent increased. What has been said of coarse fodders, applies 

 equally to concentrated fodders. K.iihn and Mockern have shown this to be 



