Iowa voter. [volume] (Knoxville, Iowa) 1867-1874, 1871-02-02
The Food OF Animals.

The following is the contents Of paper
on the food of animals, which was read by
Mr.. Whitney at a recent session of the
American Institute Farmers Club.
We estimate the value Of food according
to its proportion of heterogeneous or al
luminous substances of oily or fatty mate
rial, and its starch or sugar. The first
supplies the red flesh, the second the
greater part of the fat, and sustains the
process of respiration. Sugar, starch, or
oil,--one or more of them-are common
in most kinds of cattle feed, and either will
supply the place of the other. The prac-
teal value Of the feed may therefore be
estimated from the quantity of albuminous
material in it, and the per centage of either
or all Of the others Taking the statement
of chemists who have carefully investi-
gated the subject, we find that, disregard
ing minute fractions, linseed cake contains
274 per cent Of albuminous matter and
1924 per cent. of oil, whereas turnips have
but u per cent. Of the former and Is of
l per cent. Of the latter; SO that A. IS pounds
Of oil cake contain as much or a little
more nutriment than 100 turnips.
Cotton seed cake has triie more than
25 per cent. Of albuminous substances and
9per cent. of oil, and is, therefore, worth
nearly, but not quite, as much as common
oilcake. Field beans have % per cent.
of albumen and ~ per cent of oil but
this deficiency of oil is made up by large
quantity Of starch. Sunfower seed has
nearly IL per cent. of albumen and 30 per
cent. of oil. The per centagc of oil is too
great for profitable feeding, providing it
could be extracted and used in the arts.
Sunflower seed cake should be very
valuable article of cattle feed Turning to
the cereals, oats have little more, and
buckwheat little less, than 10 per cent
of albuminous matter, the former having
nearly twice as much oil as the latter
Wheat has 3 per cent. of albumen and
about 2 per cent. of oil.
OF fodder or forage, new hay contains
about 9 per cent. Of albumen, and is con-
se4uently worth more than old hay, which
commonly has but 4 per cent, the rest
being dissipated by the slow progress Of
decay which always first attacks the highly
organized nitrogenized bodies Bean straw
has 81 per cent, and is consequently
worth saving. Red clover has 2 $40 per
cent. and white wheat straw not more than
~ per cent. From these figures we may
readily estimate the relative commercial
value of the different kinds Of feed.
Practically, however there are other
elements to be considered in setting forth
the real worth of any kind Of feed, chief
among which Is the presence of phos-
pilates required in building up the bOny
system Of the animal. This Is computed
from analysis of the ashes. For example,
the ash Of wheat kernels contains 49, Tooth
of ! per cent. of phosphoric acid, while
the ash Of the straw has but 24 per cent.
The ash of oats gives 5O1f per cent. Of
!phosphoric acid, its straw 8 per cent, and
that Of the chat only l per cent The ash
Of Indian corn (Which grain, by the way,
has also much oil, albumen, and starch)
shows a still larger proportion of phos-
phoric acid-nearly 81 per cent, while
that of its stalks and leaves Cloth of these
cent. Rice has more phOsphOric acid in it
than any other grain, its ash yielding 80
per cent. and upward. This, with the
large quantity of starch in it, makes rice
one Of the best articles of human food,
when used with any suitable albuminous
q Carrots contain more phOsphoric acid
than any other common root crop, the ash
containing twelve and one-eighth per cent.
A certain degree of bulk Is necessary To
insure most efficient digestion Of the food.
BY carefully mixing the more concentrated
with the less nutritious, an average Emay
be obtained that will give the best results.
The proportions required between the
albuminous food and the sugar, starch, and
oil have never been definitely settled, and
indeed will vary very much according to
the colder the stable and
the more neglected the cattle the greater
the quantity Of elements for fat-fOrming
and respiration that will be needed. It
must also be remembered that the quality
Of the manure il directly dependent upon
the nature of the feed. Some English
farmers have held that with cattle fed ON
oil cake, increased value Of the manure is
from ONT third to one-half the original cost
Of the cake. y gafgta 5aea1
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