CoivORADo Fodders. 
93 
the corn fodder and sorghum is concerned. As I have elsewhere 
stated, any inferences from the analytical results or determinations 
of the fuel values and all personal opinion regarding the value of 
such sorghum fodder must be held in abeyance when the feeding re¬ 
sults are so strongly agg.inst them. 
§221. I do not know what the general judgment relative to 
the value of this fodder is, but Mr. Payne, who grew this sorghum, 
tells me that he and the party who joined him in his work with this 
sorghum, came to the conclusion that when fed alone it was of no 
value, which agrees with the results of my feeding experiments. 
§222. The pentosans as represented by the furfurol show very 
marked differences. The four portions of the fodders which are 
of the most importance cannot be designated as in the case of the ex¬ 
tracts, because they vary with each fodder. The alfalfa was be¬ 
yond all question the best fodder experimented with, and we find 
considerable quantities of furfurol in each of the extracts made, but 
the three most important portions of the hay in furnishing digestible 
furfurol were the alcoholic and hydric chlorid extracts and the resi¬ 
due or cellulose. The sodic hydrate removed more furfurol from 
the fodder than any other solvent, but its coefficient of digestion is 
very low, 27.80 per cent., while the coefficient of digestion for the 
whole extract was high, 67.7 per cent. Cold water, hot water and 
malt extract and chlorin, with the subsequent washing with sodic 
hydrate and hydric sulfite, each remove some furfurol, but the 
quantities are relatively small and the coefficients of digestion vary 
greatly, which, owing to the relatively small quantities involved, is 
probably a matter of small importance. This class of substances, 
the pentosans, constitute about one-eleventh of the total dry matter 
digested by the sheep fed on alfalfa, about one-tenth of thar digested 
as corn fodder and about one-thirteenth of that digested as saltbush, 
which is the smallest amount found in any of the six fodders. 
§223. The fodders which stood nearest in value to the al¬ 
falfa were the native hay and corn fodder. This does not mean 
that they were nearly equal to it by any means, but the two fodders 
giving the next best results measured by the increase in the live 
weight. The lot receiving alfalfa gained nine pounds, while the 
lots receiving native hay and corn fodder, respectively, gained three 
and one-half pounds each. The lot receiving timothy hay lost one 
pound. The timothy and native hays are representative of the small 
grasses, as distinguished from the corn fodder, and are more nearly 
alike so far as the distribution of the pentosans is concerned than 
the native hay and corn fodder. From the smaller grasses, timothy 
and the native grasses, the largest quantities of furfurol are re¬ 
moved by the hydric chlorid and sodic hydrate. The next largest 
portion remains in the residue or cellulose. The coefficients of di- 
