110 ANIMALS AND THEIR PRODUCTS. 



hay, they should, by all means, have roots, as carrota 

 and turnips, or, if these cannot be furnished, Indian 

 meal. The succulent qualities of roots afPord a sort of 

 set-off for the dryness of husks, straw, and poor hay ; 

 and corn-meal contains some 10 per cent, of oil, which 

 helps down coarse fodder, about as well as butter does 

 dry bread. 



196. 'No certain rules can be given for all cases. 

 The feeder of stock knows what fodder he has to dis- 

 pose of, and what sort of cattle he has to consume' it. 

 He must cater to his cattle as best he can out of his re- 

 sources. He must carefully note the effect of his feed- 

 ing from time to time. If the profits of agriculture 

 are to be increased, or, in other words,, if the farmer 

 is not only to raise good crops^ but to get paid for them, 

 the business of feeding must receive far greater atten- 

 tion than it yet has. 



197. It has been stated in another part of this work, 

 that among the proximate constituents of plants used 

 as food, are woody fibre, starch, gum, sugar, and oil, 

 called non-nitrogenous substances. These are com- 

 posed of carbon, hydrogen, and oxygen (CHO). There 

 are also three nitrogenous substances — gluten, albu- 

 men, and caseine. These, in addition to carbon, hy- 

 drogen, and oxygen, contain also nitrogen (CHON). 

 The first mentioned substance, woody fibre, has little 

 to do with nutrition. It passes the animal mostly un- 

 digested. The office of the next three, starch, gum, 

 and sugar, is to support respiration. The next sub- 

 stance, oil, goes to form the fat of animals, and the 



