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The Feeding of Farm Stock. 



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familiar with the nature and special characteristics of the 

 different foodstuffs from which he may choose.* 



It is nevertheless possible to lay down the broad lines upon 

 which the construction of rations should be based and to 

 indicate the standards of feeding which accord best with 

 present-day scientific knowledge and good practice. These 

 articles are intended to supply guidance of this character rather 

 than to formulate any code of rules to be rigidly adhered to 

 in all cases. It is quite possible that rations which do not 

 comply closely with the standards laid down in the following 

 pages may prove successful in practice, but in such cases the 

 success is frequently accompanied by unnecessary strain upon 

 either the pocket of the feeder or the physiological activities 

 of the animal. 



For convenience of treatment the subject-matter is divided 

 into four parts, as follows : — 



Part I. — The General Principles of Nutrition. 



Part II. — The General Feeding Characteristics of different 

 Classes of Stock. 



Part III. — The Compounding of Rations. 



Part IV.— Typical Rations and Suggestions for the Feed- 

 ing of different Classes of Stock. 



Part I. is dealt with in the present article. The remaining 

 parts will appear in subsequent numbers of this Journal, 



Part I. — The General Principles of Nutrition. 



Foodstuffs are composed of a variety of ingredients com- 

 monly grouped under the headings Albuminoids (or Pro- 

 teins), Amides, Oils (or Fats), Ash, Crude Fibre, and Soluble 

 Carbohydrates. For information as to the nature and charac- 

 teristics of these substances as food the reader is referred to 

 Leaflet No. 74, pp. 2-5. 



Before food can be of any use to the animal, it must undergo 

 the change commonly referred to as digestion. This is a 

 complex series of processes, partly mechanical and partly 

 chemical. The object of the mechanical changes (mastica- 

 tion, &c.) is to reduce the food to a fine pulp, in which state 

 it is most readily acted upon by the chemical digestive forces. 

 These are brought to bear upon it through the agency of 



* Information upon these points is given in Leaflet No. 74, on " The Purchase 

 of Feeding Stuffs." 



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