88 FEEDING AND FATTENING. 



Before giving a table of feeding stuffs, it will be as well to 

 briefly explain the terms used. For instance, our analysis of the 

 blood and tissues was found to contain carbon, hydrogen, nitro- 

 gen, oxygen and ash, and the value of a foodstuff will depend on 

 the proportion of the above elements which it may contain. 

 The oxygen and hydrogen will be taken into the animal body in 

 the form of water. Water (all feeding-stuffs contain water), 

 the amount varying from eight to fifteen pounds per 100 pounds 

 of dry materials such as hay, straw, or grain to sixty to eighty 

 pounds in ensilage, and ninety pounds in such roots as turnips, 

 etc. 



Materials containing nitrogen are classed as 



Protein. These , furnish materials for the creation of 

 muscle-fibre, blood, skin, tendons, nerves, hair, horn, wool and 

 the constituents of milk, known as casein and albumen, thus 

 conclusively showing that protein is one of the most important 

 constituents of feeding-stuffs. 



Ash is the residue from the combustible part of any feed- 

 ing-stuff, and is found chiefly to consist of potash, soda, iron, 

 lime, magnesia, chlorine and carbonic, sulphuric and phosphoric 

 acids. It is largely responsible for the formation and building 

 Tip of the bones of the body, the excess of ash being voided in the 

 manure. 



Carbo-hydrates are free from nitrogen and are classed un- 

 der the head of nitrogen-free, extract. They incltide fat pro- 

 ducers, such as starch, sugar, gums, oils, etc., and form an im- 

 portant part of all feeding stuffs. Carbo-hydrates form the 

 larger part of all vegetable foods. They are either stored up as 

 fat or consumed in the body to produce heat and energy. 



A certain quantity of food being required to repair the 

 waste of the animal economy, as has been stated heretofore, is 

 termed the necessary ration. An excess of this ration means a 



