26 THE FAMILY HOBSE. 



oblique lines running downward to the right denote fiber. Mineral 

 matter or ash is printed solid black, and water has no marking at 

 all. These statements of composition are derived wholly from 

 analyses made in th6 country, chiefly at our agricultural colleges 

 and experiment stations, and axe taken from the tables annually 

 published by the Connecticut Experiment Station. A glance at the 

 diagram will show the composition of any of the food substances 

 named. If precise figures are required, they may readily be read off 

 on the scale at the top of the plate. A single division represents 

 one pound in one hundred or one per cent. A pair of dividers or a 

 fine rule will be a great help in this measurement. 



In the second place the diagram shows what part of each of the 

 food ingredients is digestible. No feeding stuff is wholly digestible. 

 A certain part of any feed passes through the animal unchanged. 

 The quantity of this indigestible matter is quite different in different 

 feeds. For instance, nearly nine-tenths of the albuminoids of cotton 

 seed meal are digestible, while of the albiuninoids in hay of poor 

 quality only about one-half are digestible. The proportion of each 

 is presented to the eye in the diagram as follows : A portion on the 

 left side of each space representing either albuminoids, fat, nitrogen- 

 free extract or fiber is darker shaded than the rest of the space. 

 This shaded portion indicates both the proportion and the real quan- 

 tity of the food ingredient which is digestible. To illustrate, cotton 

 seed meal has 42.4 per cent (or pounds in the hundred) of albumin- 

 oids, but the diagram shows that 37.6 pounds only are digestible 

 and have feeding value. Only a few digestion experiments have 

 been made in this country yet, so that the figures for digestibility 

 given by German authorities have necessarily been used in most 

 cases. The results of American observation have been used so far 

 as they were available. It must be understood that this chart re- 

 presents averages ; it is a general statement. All feeds vary more 

 or less — some of them widely — ^in composition according to differ- 

 ences of soil, climate and season in which they were grown. Ani- 

 mals, too, differ considerably in their powers of assimilating food. 

 Horses digest a smaller proportion of crude fiber than sheep or oxen. 

 Still the diagram is valuable in presenting to the eye at a glance a 

 comparative statement of the average composition and nutritive 

 value of oiir feeds. It embraces in addition to the articles named 

 in the preceding table, a large number of articles that are not usually 

 fed to horses, but is nevertheless valuable for general reference. 



With the results of skillful chemical analysis before him, the 

 feeder need no longer proceed in a haphazard manner, or foUow 

 blindly in old ruts, often buying at heavy cost certain standard 



