THE FEEDING OF ANIMALS 49 



digestive juices. It is a well-known fact that when grain is fed 

 whole, many entire grains pass through the tract. Grinding also 

 saves the animal the energy of crushing the grains. Many 

 experiments have been conducted, comparing the feeding of 

 ground grain with whole grain, with the results in favor of grind- 

 ing. The profit from grinding grain hinges, in part at least, 

 upon the relation of the cost of grinding to the loss from not 

 grinding. If the cost of grinding amounts to one-tenth the 

 value of the grain, the probabiUty of profit from grinding is 

 small. 



Curing food. — The method of curing food may result in a 

 loss of a part of the digestible nutrients. The mere curing, 

 drying, or preserving of food will not alter its digestibility. If, 

 however, hay is cured under adverse conditions, such as exposure 

 to rain and the like, when leaching occurs, or fermentation sets 

 in, or when many of the finer parts of the plants are lost, then 

 the digestibility is very much lessened. 



Various processes, such as wetting, steaming, cooking, fer- 

 menting, and the like, are used with the several foods prepara- 

 tory to feeding, with the view of rendering them more acceptable 

 to the animal. When increased efficiency occurs, it is due to 

 more complete digestion rather than to added nutritive value. 

 It has been fairly well proved that cooking renders some parts 

 more undigestible, particularly the protein. On the other hand, 

 cooking certain foods changes the mechanical condition so they 

 are more readily eaten. The advantage of cooking is greater 

 for swine than for any other class of animals. The addition of 

 water, in the form of wetting, soaking, or even steaming, is often 

 advantageous because it increases the palatability and to a cer- 

 tain extent restores the succulence that the food lost in drying. 

 The addition of salt will cause an animal to eat food that it would 

 otherwise reject. The presence or absence of agreeable vege- 

 table oils is a matter to be considered. It is difficult to under- 

 stand why animals will readily eat clover and alfalfa hay, but 



