CRAPTEE IL 



THE COARSE FODDERS. 



In tlie preceding chapter, we have considered, in a gen- 

 eral way, the digestibility, and incidentally some of the 

 other properties, of the more common classes of feeding- 

 stuffs. We now proceed, in this and the following chap- 

 ters, to take np the chief members of these classes for a 

 more detailed study. In this we shall regard the feeding- 

 stuffs chiefly as sources of the various nutrients — that is, 

 we shall look at them from a chemical standpoint, and 

 make their composition the prominent point. 



The greater or less adaptability of particular fodders to 

 particular kinds of animals we shall leave entirely out of 

 account, simply because it is as yet entirely a matter of 

 practical observation and experience. 



The subject of the cultivation of fodder plants, too, is 

 outside the scope of this work, and will only be alluded to 

 incidentally, in so far as the different methods of cultivation 

 and mamiring may influence the composition or digestibil- 

 ity of the resulting crop. 



§ 1. Meadow Hat, Rowbn, and Pasture Gbass* 



Variable ^Composition. — ^While the seeds of the same 

 plant, and hence their bye-products, are generally quite 

 constant in their chemical composition and nutritive value, 

 it is characteristic of the stems and leaves, which constitute 

 what we call coarse fodder or forage, that they vai-y very 



