74 
The Colorado Experiment Station. 
bring them together for the three fodders that we have tried to 
study a little more fully than the others, i. e., alfalfa, corn fodder 
and the saltbush, Atriplex argentca. 
table ci. 
Coeffic- 
ent of 
Alfalfa Digestion 
Corn 
Fodder 
Coeffic- 
ent of 
Digestion 
Coeffic- 
ent of 
Saltbush Digestion 
The crude 
sumed. 
proteids con- 
.1817.15 
72.92 
472.82 
37.74 
1646.10 
66.21 
Soluble in 
sumed 
80% alcohol, con- 
. 594.41 
81.69 
215.76 
65.49 
629.40 
87.91 
Soluble in 
sumed 
hydric chlorid, con- 
.’. 125.66 
59.84 
70.07 
39.43 
105.30 
43.50 
Soluble in 
sumed 
sodic hydrate, con- 
. 851.70 
81.89 
98.98 
0.00 
538.90 
70.10 
Soluble in 
sumed 
chlorin, etc., con- 
. 39.58 
0.00 
28.82 
46.46 
218.00 
29.13 
§i68. We have here very great differences and, if we were 
to draw conclusions and base them upon the analytical results in 
regard to the cjuantity and digestibilty of the proteids present, we 
would certainly place the saltbush quite close to the alfalfa, but 
the results of the feeding, expressed in gain or loss of live weight, 
places the corn fodder far above the saltbush with a gain of 
pounds of flesh as against a loss of pounds or a total difference 
of 12 pounds live weight. It is onl}^ just to add that 6 pounds of 
the loss chargeable to the saltbush was made by one of the three ani¬ 
mals, but even if this be due to the individuality, idiosyncrasy per¬ 
haps, of the animal, it suggests that the saltbush may be a bad 
fodder for many sheep, unless we were unfortunate in getting the 
one out of many among the three chosen with which it would give 
particularly unfavorable results. I have elsewhere referred to this 
possibility and have pointed out that the aggregate loss of the two, 
that did not lose such an exceptional weight, was 2^ pounds, while 
those fed on corn fodder gained 3,14 pounds, so that after assuming 
that the third sheep receiving the saltbush was so sensitive to its 
action as to render this sheep wholly unfitted for use in the experi¬ 
ment, the results obtained with the remaining two indicate that 
this plant is not fitted for a forage plant. The corn fodder, so far 
as the proteids are concerned, is not so good as the saltbush, but if 
we consider the carbohydrates as indicated by the sugars obtained in 
the inverted solutions, or by the furfurol obtained, and their coef¬ 
ficients of digestion, the corn fodder would appear to be much the 
better of the two, and this is the fact. This view of the importance 
of the carbohydrates will receive some confirmation when we briefly 
review the energy supplied by these three fodders and their ex¬ 
tracts. 
