CONDITIONS GOVERNING DIGESTIBILITY 



53 



is unusual to find feeders preparing rations by cooking, steam- 

 ing, scalding, roasting and fermenting. The investigators found 

 that the protein digestibility was most efl'ected and as this was 

 the most expensive nutrient the practice was discontinued. Some- 

 times scalding a food improves its palatability and thus serves 

 to increase its consumption. 



Grinding has considerable influence on the digestibility of 

 certain foods when fed to certain animals. The smaller and 



Fig. 3.— A coach horse — after Good. 



harder the seed the more necessary it is to grind it. Many of 

 our seeds such as flax, bariey, peas, rye, sorghum, millet, etc., 

 are so small as to escape mastication, or too hard, or too oily for 

 the digestive fluids to penetrate and act upon. The harder the 



