250 The Feeding of Animals 



n on -nitrogenous compounds in feeding stuffs is greatly 

 varied. There is no fixed proportion in the same spe- 

 cies, even, but it varies to some extent with the season, 

 period of cutting, and other conditions. At the same 

 time, there are differences of composition between several 

 groups of feeding stuffs that are constant within not 

 very wide limits, and which it is important to recognize. 



There are a few terms that are popularly used to 

 differentiate feeding stuffs which are misleading. For 

 instance, corn meal is often spoken of as "carbona- 

 ceous" in contrast to cottonseed meal, which is called 

 "nitrogenous." It may be seen by reference to pre- 

 ceding data that there is a higher proportion of carbon 

 in albuminoids than in starch or sugars. Cottonseed 

 meal is more carbonaceous than corn meal, rather than 

 less so. Such a distinction is therefore absurd. 



"Heat forming" is another term often applied to 

 foods rich in carbohydrates, while the more highly 

 nitrogenous materials are characterized as "muscle 

 forming," a distinction apparently based upon the facts 

 that carbohydrates are usually largely burned in the 

 animal body, and that albuminoids are the only source 

 of the muscle compounds. But, as a matter of fact, 

 the potential heat value of the digestible part of an 

 oil meal is certainly as great as that of digestible 

 corn meal. Under certain conditions one feeding stuff 

 is no more fully used than the other for tissue -forming 

 purposes, and both may be wholly utilized in the pro- 

 duction of some form of energy, ultimately heat, the 

 potential value of the oil meal being no less in this 

 respect than that of the corn meal. 



