26 FEEDING STUFFS AND THEIR PREPARATION 



3. Grinding or crushing feed. In some cases grinding and 

 crushing increase the digestibihty of feeds. The value of 

 crushing is especially marked in grains having a heavy outer 

 husk, hke oats and barley, which prevents the digestive 

 juices from acting freely upon the more digestible interiors. 

 Grinding seems to be more valuable for horses and pigs than 

 for ruminants, whose paunches enable them to more com- 

 pletely break down the coarse husks. 



4. Cooking. Cooking has been found to lower the digest- 

 ibility of protein. In most cases investigators have found 

 that the digestibihty of feeding stuffs is lowered by cooking, 

 though some starchy foods like potatoes are improved in 

 feeding quahty. Skillful feeders often cook feeds for prize 

 animals for the purpose of adding variety to the ration. 



Fig. 7. — The digestibility of fodder depends on its proper curing. 



5. Drying and curing. Drying forage does not lower its 

 digestibility, although more work on the part of the diges- 

 tive organs is required to masticate it completely and to 

 carry it through the alimentary tract. Faulty curing may 

 cause a loss of some of the more digestible parts of the plant. 



