45 

 APPENDIX I 



NOTE ON THE FEEDING VALUE OF INDIAN 

 FODDER GRASSES 



By F, ]. Plymen, Agrici^ltural Chemist ^ Central Promnces 



It is customary in considering the feeding value of cattle- 

 foods to divide the latter by various cheniical processes into 

 a number of groups of substances, each group having its 

 definite function in the niaintenance of the animals' strength* 

 These groups are generally known as (a) protein or albu- 

 minoids, (^.1 oil or fat, {c) soluble carbohydrates or nitro- 

 gen free ex^tract, {d) cru.de fibre, and {e} mineral matter. 



None of them is a single substance, but each group 

 includes a number of bodies similar in chemical nature and 

 in the effects which they produce when taken into an 

 animal's body. The constituents of a food have been broadly 

 classified as heat-producers, whose function it is to maintain 

 the warmth of the animal's body, and muscle-formers, which 

 make good the waste continually going on in animal flesh. 

 To the former class belong oils, fats and carbohydrates, 

 while the sole member of the latter class is protein or albu- 

 minoid matter. 



To maintain an animal's strength certain quantities of 

 each of these constituents are required, and the daily amount 

 of food or ration given to an animal is fixed with this end 

 in view. The actual amount of each constituent required 

 varies according to the purpose for which the animal is 

 being fed. If it is merely being kept alive the ration is 

 much less than if it is doing heavy work, while the pro- 

 duction of flesh in a growing animal or of milk by milch 

 cattle must be corripensated for by a more liberal allowance 

 of those substances necessary to support such production. 

 The size and weight of the animal have also to be considered 

 in fixing its ration. 



Apart, however, from the actual amount of food consumed, 

 another factor influencing the feeding value of a fodder grass 

 has to be borne in mind. An animal can only make use 

 of that portion of its daily ration which it digests, and the 

 digestibility gf cattle-foods varies considerably, Moreover, 



