2 I'I'SESTICN A'^D FOOD. 



tudes of animals, their disposition to thrive and grow, with 

 a complete understanding of the nature of food, the infinite 

 ways in which it may be favourably combined, and, lastly, 

 with a sound knowledge of the animal functions whereby 

 food is transformed into the flesh, blood, and bone of the 

 horse, the bullock, or the pig. 



To know that oats and turnips are very nutritious, is not 

 sufficient to guide their use, and to indicate under what cir- 

 cumstances and in what form they are most advantageously 

 employed. Moreover, the fact that both materials may be 

 food for horse or ox is insufficient.* Experience supplies a 

 host of facts, which, with the light of science, admit of being 

 grouped and explained so as to establish general principles, 

 and these may prevent future generations from blundering and 

 throwing away time and money in superfluous experiments. 

 Many tables of the nutritive value of feeding materials have 

 been drawn up. Analyses are being constantly made, and 

 will be resorted to so long as stock has to be fed, but we 

 must progress in generalization with the progress made in 

 the accumulation of scattered facts. Views may have to be 



* A suggestive instance of the many circumstances to be considered 

 in speaking of the nutritive value of substances is afforded by Mangel 

 Wurzel. Mr Pringle, in his excellent Treatise on Meat Manufacture, 

 says: "Dr Voelcker states that he has found mangels 'to be about the 

 worst description of roots that can be given to sheep.' In an experi- 

 mental trial of different feeding materials, he found that whilst ' sheep 

 fed on swedes and hay increased on an average 2^fts. per week,' those 

 fed on mangels and hay ' at the end of four months had not increased 

 a single pound.' From this he infers that there exists some peculiarity 

 in the constitution of sheep which prevents them from deriving benefit 

 from mangels, whilst cattle thrive rapidly upon them. This is another 

 point which requires co-operative investigation on the part of scientific 

 and practical men, as we have met with cases which seemed to cor- 

 roborate Dr Voelcker's vievrs, whilst the results in others were diametri- 

 cally opposite." 



