MANUAL OF CATTLE-FEnDIKCr. 273 



Presumably, this is true in all cases, but these are the only 

 experiments yet made on this point, 



if 3. Digestibility of Concbi^tkatbd Fodders akd thbib Inpt.u- 



BNCB ON THAT OF COARSE FODDElt, 



Method of Experiment. — The foregoing section shows 

 clearly that the percentage digestibility of coarse fodder, 

 so long as the latter forms the exclusive ration, is de- 

 termined very largely by the chemical composition of its 

 diy matter as afteeted by the time of cutting, weather, 

 soil, manure, etc., while other circumstances, such as quan- 

 tity, state of dryness, and method of preparation, as well 

 as the kind, breed, and age of the animals, have very little 

 influence upon it 



This is an important result, and one of practical worth 

 in the calculation of tlie daily ration of an animal. 



It is, however, still n.ore ir^portant to investigate 

 whether and how much the digestibility of the constituents 

 of coai'se fodder is altered by the addition of concentrated 

 fodders, as well as to determine the digestibility of tie 

 latter. 



In the nature of the case it is practically impossible to 

 make direct experiments with concentrated fodders, since 

 they are not suited for the requirements of herbivorous 

 animals. The best we can do is to feed increasing quan- 

 tities of any concentrated fodder along with a fixed quan- 

 tity of coarse fodder of known digestibility, and ascertain 

 the digestibility of the mixture as a whole. It is, of course, 

 in most cases impossible to determine wdth certainty what 

 portion of the digested nutrients comes from the coarse 

 fodder and what from the concentrated fodder ; but results 

 may be reached which possess sufficient exactitude for the 

 purpose of compounding rations. 



12* 



