Treatment of Fodders 129 



doubtful if curing has any material effect upon digesti- 

 bility. 



The point has been the object of six American di- 

 gestion experiments, Hungarian, timothy, pasture grass, 

 corn fodder, crimson clover and winter vetch being the 

 experimental foods. With four of these slight, but un- 

 important, differences were observed in favor of the 

 dried material, while the reverse was decidedly true of 

 the crimson clover and the corn fodder. German ex- 

 periments show in a majority of cases greater digesti- 

 bility for the green fodders. It seems probable that 

 in general practice, because of greater or less unavoid- 

 able fermentation and a loss of the finer parts of the 

 plant, dried fodders have a somewhat lower rate of 

 digestibility than the original green material, a fact 

 not due directly to drying, but to a decrease, either 

 of the more soluble compounds or of the tender tissues. 



INFLUENCE OF THE CONDITIONS AND METHODS OF 

 PRESERVING FODDERS 



In comparing the conditions and methods of pre- 

 serving fodders in their relation to digestibility, we may 

 safely rest upon the general statement that when, for 

 any cause, leaching occurs or fermentations set in, di- 

 gestibility is depressed. The explanation of this state- 

 ment is that those compounds of the plant which are 

 entirely soluble in the digestive fluids, notably the 

 sugars, are the ones wholly or partially removed or 

 destroyed by leaching or fermentations, while the more 

 insoluble bodies remain unaffected. When, therefore, 

 hay is cured under adverse conditions, such as long -con- 



