10 
AMERICAN AGRICULTURIST. 
[jARtTAfiT, 
Average Composition, Digestibility, and Money-Value of Fod¬ 
der Materials, according to Wolff’s Tables for Germany, 
1879, (American Products in Italics.) 
FEEDING BTTJFFS. 
Water. 
6© 
Organic Sub¬ 
stance. 
Total. 
Organic 
Substance 
Digestible. 
Nutritive ratio. 
Money 
value. 
1 f-t 
si'll 
£§:&! 
If 
§ SI 
Albuminoids. | 
Woody fiber. 
Carbohydrates. J 
( 
Albuminoids. 
< arbohydrates. 
Fats. 
GREEN FODDEB. 
per 
pr 
per 
per 
per 
per 
per 
per 
per 
$ 
ct 
ct. 
Cl 
• 
Cl 
ct. 
C 
c 
Cl. 
ct. 
Rich pasture grass. 
Red Clover ready to blossom.. 
Red Clover in full blossom.... 
w 
2 
2 
2 
4 
5 
4 
0 
10.1 
i 
0 
8 
4 
10.9 
0.6 
3 
6 
0 
27 
0 
4*5 
83 
0 1 
5 
8 
3 
4 
5 
7.0 
0 
7 
2 
3 
7.4 
0.5 
8 
8 
o 
19 
o 
80 
4 
1 
3 
3 
0 
5 
8 
8 9 
0 
6 
i 
7 
8.7 
0.4 
5 
7 
0 
17 
0 
26 
Fodder-corn... 
85 
0 
1 
0 
1 
2 
4 
7 
7.6 
0 
5 
0 
7 
7.4 
0.2 
11 
8 
0 
10 
o 
16 
Fodder-corn, So. white, old _ 
86 
0 
0 
8 
0 
8 
4 
8 
7.3 
0 
3 
0 
6 
8.3 
0.2 
14 
4 
0 
09 
o 
14 
Fodder-corn, do. younger 
86 
01 
1 
1 
3 
4 
6 
7,1 
0 
2 
0 
9 
7.6 
0.1 
9 
2 
0 
11 
0 
17 
Fodder-rye. 
76 
0 
1 
6 
8 
3 
7 
9 
10.4 
0 
8 
1 
9 
11 0 
0.4 
6 
3 
0 
19 
0 
31 
Hungarian grass, in blossom. 
75 
0 
1 
3 
3 
1 
8 
5 
10.9- 
0 
7 
3 
8 
11.8 
0.3 
7 
0 
0 
19 
0 
so 
HAY, STRAW, ETC. 
Meadow-hay, inferior. 
14 
a 
5 
0 
7 
5 
33 
5 
38.2 
1 
5 
3 
4 
34.9 
0.5 
10 
6 
0 
48 
0 
74 
Meadow-hay, average.... 
14 
8 
6 
2 
9 
7 
26 
3 
41.4 
2 
5 
5 
4 
41.0 
1.0 
8 
0 
0 
1 
00 
Meadow-hay, extra.,........... 
16 
0 
7 
7 
18 
5 
19 
8 
40.4 
3 
0 
9 
2 
42.8 
1.5 
5 
1 
0 
84 
1 
32 
Timothy-hay, average. 
14 
3 
4 
5 
9 
7 
22 
7 
45.8 
8 
0 
5 
8 
48.4 
1.4 
8 
1 
0 
<9 
1 
09 
Timothy-hay,ready to blossom 
Vi 
5 
4 
1 
8 
4 
28 
9 
44.4 
1 
7 
4 
4 
48 6 
0.8 
10 
6 
0 
61 
0 
96 
Timothy-hay, in full blossom. 
12 
5 
8 
8 
6 
2 
29 
l 
47.1 
1 
2 
8 
1 
4?, n 
0.4 
13 
2 
0 
51 
0 
80 
Timothy-hay, nearly ripe . 
Clover-hay, inferior........... 
Clover-liay, average. 
12 
15 
5 
0 
8 
5 
2 
1 
5 
11 
5 
1 
31 
28 
0 
9 
46.4 
47.7 
1 
2 
4 
1 
2 
5 
7 
40.6 
87 9 
0.4 
1.0 
15 
7 
7 
1 
0 
0 
50 
58 
0 
0 
79 
91 
16 
0 
5 
8 
12 
8 
26 
0 
38.2 
2 
2 
7 
0 
38,1 
1.2 
5 
9 
0 
69 
1 
08 
Clover-hay, best. 
16 
5 
7 
0 
15 
3 
22 
2 
35.8 
3 
2 
0 
7 
37.6 
2.1 
4 
0 
0 
88 
1 
89 
Clover-hay, ready to blossom. 
Clover-hay in full blossom _ 
14 
s 
7 
3 
12 
2 
28 
8 
41.0 
1 
5 
6 
7 
38.8 
0.8 
6 
1 
0 
68 
1 
06 
14 
8 
6 
6 
11 
6 
28 
8 
42.0 
1 
8 
5 
9 
88 7 
0.8 
6 
9 
0 
64 
1 
00 
Clover-hay, nearly ripe . 
Hungarian, early in blossom. 
14 
s 
5 
6 
8 
9 
27 
2 
42.6 
1 
5 
4 
0 
39.6 
0.6 
10 
3 
0 
56 
0 
88 
16 
7 
7 
2 
10 
7 
28 
9 
84.8 
1 
7 
6 
0 
38.4 
0.7 
6 
7 
0 
63 
0 
98 
Hungarian in full blossom... 
Corn-fodder, So. white, youna 
16 
7 
4 
8 
8 
0 
27 
6 
41.9 
i 
5 
4 
0 
36 7 
0.5 
9 
4 
0 
52 
0 
81 
25 
0 
5 
5 
6 
9 
24 
8 
87.3 
1 
0 
4 
5 
40 0 
0.5 
9 
2 
0 
58 
0 
91 
Corn-fodder, So. white, older.. 
25 
0 
4 
3 
4 
5 
25 
7 
39.1 
1 
4 
2 
7 
38.9 
0.5 
14 
9 
0 
49 
0 
76 
Wheat-straw... .. 
14 
3 
4 
6 
3 
0 
40 
0 
36.9 
1 
2 
0 
8135.6 
0.4 
45 
8 
(kS6 
0 
57 
Rye-straw..... 
14 
8 
4 
1 
8 
0 
44 
0 
33 3 
1 
8 
0 
8 
36.5 
0.4 
46 
9 
0 
85 
0 
55 
Oat straw. ...................... 
14 
3 
4 
0 
4 
(1 
39 
5 
86.2 
2 
0 
1 
4 
40 1 
0.7 
29 
9 
0 
44 
0 
69 
Corn-stalks.. 
15 
0 
4 
2 
3 
0 
40 
0 
36 7 
1 
0 
1 
1 
37,0 
0.8 
34 
4 
0 
39 
0 
62 
Corncobs . 
11 
5 
i 
5 
1 
4 
48 
2 
53.8 
0 
1 
? 
? 
? 
? 
TUBERS AND ROOTS. 
Potatoes... 
75 
0 
0 
9 
2 
i 
i 
1 
20.7 
0 
2 
2 
1 
21 8 
0.2 
10 
6 
0 
29 
0 
46 
Mangolds. 
Rutabagas.... 
88 
(1 
0 
8 
1 
1 
0 
9 
9.1 
0 
1 
1 
1 
10.0 
0.1 
9 
3 
0 
14 
0 
22 
87 
0 
1 
0 
1 
3 
1 
i 
9.5 
0 
1 
1 
8 
10.6 
0.1 
8 
8 
0 
15 
0 
24 
Sugar beets.............. 
81 
5 
0 
7 
1 
U 
1 
3 
15.4 
0 
1 
1 
0 
16.7 
0.1 
17 
n 
0 
19 
0 
30 
Turnips. 
82 
0 
u 
7 
1 
1 
0 
8 
5.8 
0 
1 
1 
1 
6.1 
0.1 
5 
8 
0 
10 
0 
16 
GRAINS,MILLING PRODUCTS,&C 
Cbm, N. E. yellow, 8-rowed ... 
12 
7 
1 
4 
10 
0 
1 
7 
75.0 
3 
9 
8 
4 
66.8 
2.8 
8 
8 
1 
04 
1 
62 
Corn, Western . 
18 
0 
1 
2 
8 
9 
2 
0,71.6 
3 
8 
7 
5 
67.9 
2.5 
9 
9 
7 
1 
51 
Corn, Southern white. . 
12 
7 
1 
4 
9 
7 
1 
8 
71.2 
8 
2 
8 
2 
67.6 
2.4 
9 
1 
1 
04 
1 
62 
Corn, sweet. .... 
10 
8 
2 
1 
11 
4 
3 
8 
64.8 
7 
7 
9 
6 
16.8 
5.9 
8 
0 
1 
19 
1 
86 
Oats.... 
14 
3 
2 
7 
12 
0 
9 
3 
55.7 
6 
0 
9 
0 
43.3 
4.7 
6 
1 
0 
98 
1 
53 
Oats, No. 1 white. .. 
11 
2 
2 
9 
11 
5 
12 
2 
52,8 
5 
1 
8 
7 
43.3 
4.0 
6 
2 
0 
94 
1 
47 
Barley-feed .. 
8.98 
8 
8 
12 
7 
7 
0 
68.5 
3 
2 
10 
1 
57.1 
2.1 
6 
2 
1 
1)5 
1 
64 
Bice-feed .. 
15 
1 
6 
0 
9 
8 
8 
1 
59.8 
1 
6 
7 
3 
49.1 
1.4 
7 
3 
0 
82 
1 
2s 
Wheat bran (shorts) . 
11 
4 
5 
1 
12 
9 
8 
1 
59.1 
3 
5 
10 
0 
48 5 
8 1 
5 
6 
1 
01 
1 
58 
Middlings . 
11 
8 
2 
3 
11 
4 
4 
8 
66.8 
2 
9 
8 
9 
54.8 
2.6 
6 
9 
1 
00 
1 
56 
Malt-sprouts . 
11 
6 
6 
7 
25 
9 
9 
3 
45.5 
1 
1 
20 
8 
43.7 
0.9 
2 
2 
1 
38 
2 
OR 
Cotton seed meal, decorticat’d 
11 
2 
7 
6 
38 
8 
9 
2 
19.5 
13 
7 
31 
0 
18.3 
12.3 
1 
6 
2 
05 
3 
22 
Linseed-cake... 
12 
2 
8 
8 
29 
5 
9 
7 
29.9 
9 
9 
24 
8 
27.5 
8.9 
2 
0 
1 
71 
2 
70 
Dried blood... 
12 
0 
4 
1 
80 
8 .. 
2.6 
0 
5 
54 
1 
2.6 
0.5 
.2 
39 
s 
76 
Meat-scraps.... 
11 
5 
8 
7 
72 
8 
12 
0 
GQ 
2 
11.2 
0 
4 8 
52 
5 
47 
Fish-scrap, Goodale’s process. 
Fish-scrap, dry, ground . 
11.5 
11.7 
64.0 
§1„5 
4.6 57.6 
8.1 46.4 
4.1 
6.2 
0.2 2.67 4.17 
0.3 2.28-3.56 
[ This important table, based on averages of mare than one thousand accurate 
feeding experiments , should be kept for reference. The first six columns give the 
number of pounds of ingredients in 100 lbs.; the 7th', 8th and 9th columns the 
amounts digestible , and hence nutritious; the 10 ill column. the proportion of others 
to albuminoids; the Wth column the money value per 100 lbs.; the last column the 
value compared with good meadow hay (English grasses) as the standard. —Ed. ] 
“You have had little heaps,” remarked the Doc¬ 
tor, “in the yard for several ■weeks.” — “Yes,” 
said I, “ we have been very busy, and have 
had little time to fuss over manure. We threw 
the manure up into little heaps where most 
convenient. But now that winter is fairly set in 
and we have more leisure, we will make one large 
central heap. We draw all the small heaps and all 
the manure and refuse we can find to this central 
spot to form the basis of the prepared heap. Make 
the heap six or eight feet wide and four or five feet 
high. It will soon commence to ferment. Then, 
every day, as the stables, etc., are cleaned out, 
wheel the manure on to the top of the heap and 
spread it. If properly attended to it will ferment 
all winter. There need be no loss of ammonia. 
The more I can ferment my manure in winter the 
better I like it. It puts it into admirable condition 
for use on spring crops. The fermentation of 
the manure renders it more available. 
A gentleman in Massachusetts wants me to tell 
him all about barley—the average yield per acre, 
best variety, time of sowing, and what manures to 
use. Twenty-five bushels per acre is perhaps a fair 
average crop ; it varies from 10 bushels to 60 bush¬ 
els per acre. The four or six-rowed barley is the 
most profitable. Sow as early in the spring as the 
land can be got into good mellow condition—the 
earlier the better. Drill in 2 to 21 bushels per acre. 
1 usually sow 21 bushels, hut many sow only 2 bush¬ 
els or 11 bushel. Much depends on the land. It 
will pay wonderfully well to use artificial manure 
on barley at present prices. The manures are ch eap 
and barley is high. 100 lbs. of barley brings far 
more than 100 lbs. of the best wheat. With good 
land and artificial manures, we can grow 50 bushels 
of barley as easily as we can 30 bushels of wheat. 
Science Applied to Farming. — XLVIII. 
Composition and Values of Fodder Materials. 
In the earlier of this series of articles, in connec¬ 
tion with some explanations of the advanced prin¬ 
ciples of feeding as taught by the remarkable ex¬ 
periments lately made in the European Stations, I 
gave several tables showing the composition of 
fodder materials and feeding rations, calculated to 
secure the most economical employment of the 
food. The interest manifested in the subject in 
newspaper discussions and in scores of letters from 
all parts of the country; the success many have 
had in putting the principles then advocated in 
practice ; the advance in the science, and finally 
the numerous analyses of American feeding stuffs, 
until of late almost entirely lacking, lead me to 
take up the subject again, and give some figures for 
the composition, digestibility, and value of the ma¬ 
terials most used for fodder. The table is from a 
much more extensive one, prepared with accounts 
of analyses and fodder rations for the forthcoming 
Report of the Experiment Station at Middletown,Ct. 
Food Ingredients. Chemical Terms Explained. 
Water .—If a piece of wood or wisp of hay be 
dried some time in a hot oven, more or less 
water will he driven off. The water in feeding- 
stuffs varies from 80 or 90 lbs. in every 100 lbs. of 
young grass or fodder-corn, to only 8 or 10 lbs. to 
the 100 in dry straw or hay. 
Organic Substance .—If the dried wood or hay he 
burned, most of it will pass off as gas, vapor, or 
smoke. The part thus burned away is the Organic 
substance. The residue, 
The Ash contains the mineral matters—that is, 
potash, lime, phosphoric acid, etc., of the plant. 
The most important part for our present purpose, 
Is the organic, the combustible matter. This con¬ 
sists of three kinds of ingredients: albuminoids, 
carbohydrates, and fats. The main point in eco¬ 
nomical feeding is to secure the right proportions 
of these at the lowest cost. 
Albuminoids; also called protein compounds, 
proteids and flesh-formers, contain carbon, oxygen, 
hydrogen and nitrogen. They thus differ from the 
carbohydrates and fats which contain no nitrogen. 
The name albuminoids eomes from albumen, which 
we know very well as the white 
of eggs, and it is found in milk. 
The fibrin of blood and muscle 
(lean meat), and the casein (curd) 
of milk, are also albuminoids. 
Indeed, the solid parts of blood, 
nerves, lean meat, gristle, skin, 
etc., consist chiefly of albumi¬ 
noids. In plants they are equal¬ 
ly important. Plant albumen 
occurs in nearly all vegetable 
juices, especially in potatoes and 
wheat, casein or legumin in 
beans and peas, and fibrin in the 
gluten of wheat, the basis of 
what farmer-hoys call “wheat 
gum.” Clover, bran, beans, 
peas, oil-cake, and flesh and meat 
scrap, are rich in albuminoids. 
Carbohydrates consist of carbon 
and hydrogen. The most im¬ 
portant are starch, sugar, and 
cellulose (woody fibre). They 
make up a larger part of the 
solids of plants, but only a little 
of them is stored in the animal 
body. Potatoes, wheat, poor 
hay, straw, and corn-stalks con¬ 
sist largely of carbohydrates. 
Fats have more carbon than 
carbohydrates, and, like them, 
have no nitrogen. Fat meat, 
tallow, lard, fish oil, the fat (but¬ 
ter) of milk, and linseed oil are 
familiar examples of fats. Indian 
corn, oil-cake, cotton-seed and 
linseed, are rich in fatty matters. 
How Food is used in the Body. 
We feed hay, grain, and roots 
to our stock that they may keep 
warm, grow, fatten, and return 
meat, milk, and work. That is 
to say, we supply them with 
albuminoids, carbohydrates, and 
fats, to make flesh and fat, bone 
and sinew, milk, and progeny, 
and to be consumed in generating 
heat and muscular strength. The 
animal body is often compared 
to a machine. This machine is 
peculiar, in that it is made of 
food, consumes its own materials 
for fuel, uses food for both fuel 
and repairs, and keeps running, wearing out, and 
warming, and repairing itself by use of food all 
the while, whether it does any other work or not. 
Meat, Milk, "Warmth, and Strength from Al¬ 
buminoids, Carbohydrates, and Fats. 
The lean-meat (muscle), the casein (curd) of milk, 
and the albuminoids of the body generally, are 
made from the albuminoids of the food. A large 
part of the fat of the body and of the milk (butter) 
is made and must be made from albuminoids also. 
The fats of the food are stored in the body and find 
their way into the milk. It is probable that the 
carbohydrates can be transformed into fats in her¬ 
bivorous animals and in swine, but it is very doubt¬ 
ful whether horses, cattle, and sheep get much fat 
from them. Part of the sugar of the milk eomes 
from the sugar, starch, etc., of the food. Though 
the carbohydrates do so little to build up and re¬ 
pair the tissues, they are yet very essential. They 
act as fuel, and thus save the albuminoids and fats, 
which, without them, would be consumed. Doubt¬ 
less all the ingredients join in producing heat and 
force, though we do not yet know just how they 
divide this work between them. 
Digestible Ingredients of Foods—Ratio of Al¬ 
buminoids to Carbohydrates. 
Of course only the digestible parts of the foods 
go to nourish the animal. The figures given in the 
comprehensive table herewith for the percentage of 
digestible matters, are calculated from the average 
results of, I should think, some twelve hundred or 
more experiments, such as have been described in 
previous articles, each one more accurate and com¬ 
plete than any ever made in this country. The 
digestibility of some of the materials, as Hunga¬ 
rian grass, which have not been tested, is calculated 
from the known digestibility of similar foods. The 
figures obtained for German foods are applied to 
the corresponding American products. The “ nu¬ 
tritive ratio ” (in 10th column) expresses the ratio 
of digestible albuminoids to digestible carbohy¬ 
drates and fats (each pound of fats being assumed 
equal to 2.5, or, more accurately, 2.44 lbs. of car¬ 
bohydrates). This is an important practical matter. 
The reason why straw, with a ratio of 1: 30, that is, 
only one pound of albuminoids to 30 lbs. of carbo¬ 
hydrates, is not worth as much as good hay with a 
ratio of 1:8, that is one pound of albuminoids to 
every eight pounds of carbohydrates, is not simply 
that the straw has less digestible matter, hut that 
it has less albuminoids. The way to make it good, 
is to mix it with clover, bran, cotton-seed meal, 
meat-scrap, or fish-serap, that have albuminoids in 
excess. Just this is done with great profit. 
The Money Values of Foods 
in the table are calculated by assigning a certain 
price to each pound of digestible ingredients. The 
prices here are those given by Wolff for Germany 
in 1879, viz., albuminoids and fats each 41 cents per 
pound, and carbohydrates 9 /io cents per pound. 
They vary a little, but not widely, from the values 
in many of our markets. Of course, these values 
are only relative, and apply only when properly fed. 
Future investigations will lead to more accurate 
calculations. The last column shows how the foods 
compare with good meadow hay (English grasses) 
taken as a standard. W. O. Atwateb, 
Wesleyan University , Middletown , Conn. 
