130 THE BUSINESS OF DAIRYING 



is of little direct value. It is essential for him to 

 know, however, in case of each feeding stuflf, what 

 part of the protein, fat and carbohydrates as shown 

 by analysis is actually digested by the animal. This 

 knowledge has been gained by digestion experi- 

 ments which have been repeatedly conducted at 

 various experiment stations with a large number 

 of animals under different conditions. As a result 

 of this careful work we have a fair knowledge of the 

 digestibility of all common feeding stuffs and the 

 computation of rations has become a simple problem 

 in arithmetic. It may be said, in passing, that the 

 rates of digestibility are not equal for the same 

 nutrient in different foods, hence each crude nutrient 

 has its respective digestion coefficient (proportion 

 digested expressed as percentage). 



Feeding standards. — Standards at best can only 

 be used as guides. Successful feeding embodies 

 something besides problems in mathematics, and 

 animal life and nutrition are too complex to be 

 solved in this way. It is necessary to study the 

 requirements of individual animals, their varying 

 capacities, ability to produce, effect of various feeds 

 upon the health and condition of the animal, and its 

 appetite, and effect upon quality of the product, in 

 order to obtain the maximum production at the 

 minimum cost. These are some of the problems 

 that must be considered by the skilful feeder if the 

 best results are to be secured. 



Much experimental work has been done in this 

 country and in Europe with a view to determining 

 the fundamental laws of nutrition to be used as a 



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