VEGETABLE FOODS. 163 



and another time with the same material carefully dried, have shown the 

 following excess of matters digested in favor of the green fodder : — 



Solids, . 2.3 to 5.5 per cent, more digested. 



Proteids, . . 2.7 to 3. 2 



Carbo-hydrates, 4.1 to 5.6 



Fats, 2.4 to 21.0 



Cellulose, 2.6 to 0.2 



The attempt has been made to attribute these results to the reduc- 

 tion in digestibility acquired in the processes of drying. This is not, 

 however, the case, since there is an actual loss of digestible matter in 

 the processes of fermentation which occur in the act of drying. Green 

 fodder is especially adapted for all ruminants, and for young horses after 

 the completion of the first year. Scarcely any single green fodder is, 

 however, suited for forming the single food of horses or sheep. The 

 percentage of water of most green fodders in every stage of growth 

 amounts to from 70 to 90 per cent., and there are but few green fodders 

 which contain so little water that they may serve without the mixture of 

 any dry fodder for feeding sheep or horses. Cattle, on the other hand, 

 require a watery food, while hogs, on account of the arrangement of 

 their digestive apparatus, are only capable of digesting small amounts 

 of the youngest and most tender green foods. Green fodder, as a rule, 

 is the more nutritious the younger and more tender it is, since, in spite 

 of the greater amount of water contained in this period, it also contains 

 a larger amount of nitrogenous nutritive substances, is more stimulating 

 to the appetite, and is more readily digested. Thus, it has been found 

 that in the English bay grass (Lolium perenne) the composition varies 

 as follows (Pott) :— 



On the 6th of May, 



From the 25th to the 27tli of May, 



On the 10th of June, 



On the 24th of June, 



On the 10th of July, 



On the 22d of July, 



On the 15th of August, 



Similar results have been obtained in the case of clover and prairie 

 hay. From the fact that green fodder in early spring is so rich in pro- 

 teids it is advisable in this time of the year to administer it mixed with 

 chopped straw that the fodder be not too rich in nitrogenous compounds. 



The following represent the principal vegetable food-stuffs : the seeds 

 of the grains, or the cereals ; the hulls and fruits of the leguminous plants ; 

 the' vegetables, as potatoes, turnips, and beets ; and hay, grasses and 

 straw, of the green and dry fodders : — 



]. The Cereals. — Wheat, barley, corn, rice, and oats belong to this 

 group, and are valuable food-stuffs. Their chemical composition is 



Water. 



Cellulose. 



Proteids. 



81.2 



17.7 



27.9 



83.5 



21.4 



16.0 



82.9 



22.4 



14.8 



82.4 



23.6 



12.8 



82.2 



32.5 



11.9 



76.9 



28.6 



12.5 



74.8 



29.7 



7.8 



