MANUAL OF CATTLE-FEEDING. 



419 



ceived as mucli liay as they would eat, the amount con- 

 feunied being, of course, carefully determined. 



In the first and second periods the fodder was a very 

 excellent quality of early-cut meadow hay, nearly TO per 

 cent of the total organic matter of which was digested. 

 In the thi]'d, fourth, and fifth periods it was rowen, which, 

 indeed, was of good quality and was well digested, but which 

 was unpalatable to the animals after the better fodder which 

 they had received, the consequence being that they ate con- 

 siderably less and gained little or nothing in weight. 



The following table shows the average consumption of 

 fodder per day and head, the amount of nutrients actually di- 

 gested, and the gain in weight, for each of the five periods. 





Ap:e 

 Months. 



Average 



weight. 

 Lbs. 



Hay 

 eaten. 

 Lb3. 



Digested pee Day. 



Gain per 



Period. 



Protein. 

 Lb. 



Pat. 

 hb 



Carbhy- 



dratefa. 



Lb. 



Lb. 



1 .... 

 2.... 

 3 ... 

 4.... 

 5 .... 



5-6 



6-8 



8-9 



9-12 



12-14 



58.5 

 00,8 

 72.2 

 73.0 

 76.3 



1.89 

 2,01 

 1.71 



1.46 

 1 89 



0.183 

 0.198 

 0.135 

 101 

 0.123 



0.020 

 023 

 028 

 021 

 0.031 



912 

 1.121 

 0.799 

 0.710 

 0.888 



0.241 

 0.152 

 0.058 

 0.002 

 0.100 



Effect of Change of Fodder.— In the first and second 

 periods the gain was very satisfactory, but with the change 

 of fodder at the beginning of the third period the amount 

 eaten sank, and the gain per day dropped to nearly a third 

 of the previous figure. In the fourth period this was still 

 more marked, the fodder being barely sufficient to sustain 

 the animals, and only in the fifth period, after four 

 months, did the consumption of hay and the gain of weight 

 rise again. A more striking example could hardly bo given 



