Signal-Copiahan. (Hazlehurst, Copiah County, Miss.) 1885-1888, 1886-01-28
FEEDING sruEFs.
Their Rsonomicai Value Dependent upon
Their Digestiblilty.

Their Economical Value Dependent upon
Their DiEestibiilty.
The real commercial value OF oil
feeding stuifs depends upon their oil.
gcstibility. II for any reason the food
provided for an animal Is In whole or In
part indigcstible. being incapable OF
being absorbed by the vessels Of the
stomach and intestines, 1t is Of value
only In the proportion Of the amount
digcsted and absorbed to tho entire
amount. The degree Of digestibility
Of food Is determined by the capability
of being altered by tho fluids OF the
stomach in manner to be rcabsorbed
by II and the intestines. Pure nutri.
ments ought to be considered wholly
digcstiblc rs q justification Of their
name. but there are many circum.
stances that conspirc to prevent an en-.
tire digestion. So, too. in case OF all
fodder stufls; while ordinary chemical
analyses indicate the amount Of pure
nutrient principles which they contain,
the manner of being fed and variety
Of adverse conditions may operate to
nullify the good effect which might bc
expected. Most folders, besides what
would naturally be considered pure
nutrients, also possess indigcstiblc sub.
stances. Thus, 'purc prolcinc" may
be wholly digcstible, while the crude
pro,cinc in hay or straw. or other
coarse fodder. Is only partially
digcsiiblc. Again. substance
may be almost wholly digestible Of
itself. and yet enclosed In an is-ssti.
bic case, or by indigcstible matter. so
as to escape the action Of the fluids OF
the stomach that operate to assist di.
gcs,ibility. 1t is supposed that in pass.
ing down the alimcntary canal an
amount of juice of that organ is pro.
yided for action upon the food ON it,
entrance into the stomach, thus prcpar.
ing the way for the subsequent and
more powerful action Of that organ,
and so II is plain to be seen that II secds
or grains encascd as described are
swallowed whole, they are liable to
pass through the animal undiGestcd,
and are of no feeding value whatever;
the same may also be said of feeding
stufls possessed of cell formation, in
which the cells are formed Of indigesti.
bic wells cncasing digestiblc substance,
Again. the proportion of the relative
qualities Of the different nutrients In the
fodder OF animals may operate upon
the digestion Of each; thus II a fodder
il ovcr.rich in. or possesses an excess
Of starch, the digcstibility OF the al
buminoids is said to be diminished
while n portion of the starch will also
escape with the excavations of the AMI
NAL Its very obvious tina, however
valuable analyses of feeding stu!ls may
be, they alone can not determine the
actual feeding value, any more than an
analysis of any commercial fertilizer
can determine its real agricultural
value; both must bc determined by
actual trial-by experiment. With q
great majority of farmers the various
kinds of grass, hay, straw, corn fodder
and all kinds of forage, either green or
dry, form the bulk OF the fodder OF
farm animals, with the exception OF thu
hog, and possess considerable amoun'
of woody fiber, n certain proportion o
which is digcstible. The runinant
have power Ct diges,ing considerable
amount of crude fiber, while the horst
possesses mucl. less power in that line
In analyses of different kinds OF fodder
the term nitrogcn.free extract Is en-
ployed for the reason that a compart
son Of analyses and experiments upon
digcstibility have tended to show that
the quantity Of nitrogen.frcc extract /
found to be almost always very ncarl,
the same as the digis,iblc crude fiber
In general all the neutrality-suspicious. sub
stance of u fodder except the fat com
posed of carbohydrates. and has the
functions in nutrition that sugar ant
starch have. The crude fat in fodder
is partially diges,iblc and partially not
Protcine, or the basis of all the albumi
noids. is found in feeding stufls ant
folders of all kinds, but its digestibilit,
is not satisfactorily understood. but by
means Of feeding experiments. calcula'
tons have been made and tables formed
giving as accurately as possible the
relative feeding value Of most Of the
varieties of fodder and feeding sub.
stances of all kinds. The digcstibility
of fodder Is not varied by varying the
amount; it is only proportional in
crease Of nutrimcnt; thus. II seventy.
six per cent of good hay is digcs,iblc,
only the same ratio holds good for any
quantity fed, because larger or small
or quantity is employed only varies the
proportion of nutrimcnt and not the
degree of digestibility. The keeping OF
hay for long period OF time may af'
feet It's digcstibility, but with proper
curing the dry hay should possess the
same amount of digestible matter thai
is contained In the green substance chi
ut the same time. Itshould be rcmcm'
bered, in feeding with any special feeds,
in addition to coarse fodder, that cx'
perimcnts 60 to show that an increase
of proteine tends in no way 70 diminish
but rather to increase digrytibility,
while an increase Of carbohydrates
tends to deprcss the digestibility Of the
crude fiber and Of the proteine g con
siderable extent. The information thai
has been obtained through scientific In
vestigations in these matters can be o.
great assistance to farmers II they will
only avail themselves Of 1t. A study o.
experimental work of all kinds tends Il
the expansion Of ideas upon tie sub
jects treated. and the more attention
farmers can give to the study the better
will they DO prepared to labor intelli'
gently and to the best advantage
Boston GLOBE.
"A 'Stonington Comm man who
l.