MANUAL OF CATTLE-FEEDING. 309 



iHUcli as can safely be done, especial! j wlien tlie niitriti\ e 

 ratio is narrow. This can be accuinplislied without special 

 expenfoe by the use of oil cake, cotton-seed cake, palm-nut 

 cake, or soniethiies by the direct use of flaxseed. 



Preparation of Fodder. — In rapid fattening it is espe- 

 cially nnportant to induce the annuals to eat as large a 

 quantity as possible of nutritious and easily-digestible fod- 

 der by nuxking the latter as palatable as may be. For 

 this pinpose the fodder should be properly prepared, and 

 a suitable addition of salt aids in securini*: the same end. 

 By thus properly preparing the fodder so as to increase its 

 palatability, and consequently the amount eaten, great ad- 

 vantages may often be gained, even though, as we have 

 seen, neither the digestibility nor the real nutritive value 

 of a given quantity are thereby increased. 



Fattening fodder, on account of its concentrated na- 

 ture, requires the addition of considerable salt, especially 

 when large (piantitics of potatoes or roots are used. Care 

 iruist be taken, however, not to increase the amoimt of 

 salt beyond what is necessary, since both the salt itself and 

 the greater consumption of water which it causes increase 

 the destruction of protein and fat in the body (pp. 135 and 

 236), and thus occasion a w^aste of the most costly ingre- 

 dient of the fodder and hinder the gain of flesh. 



For the same reason a too watery fodder must be 

 avoided, if the best results are to be obtained. The pro- 

 portion of water to dry matter of the fodder should not 

 exceed four or five to one for cattle, and two or three to 



one for sheep. 



* § 3. Sheep. 



Proportion of Protein. — All the experiments on sheep 

 hitherto made agree in showing that with these animals 

 the rapidity of fattening is chiefly dependent on the sup- 



