The Grenada gazette., 1886-01-16
FEEDING SrUFfss.
THAR Econ omieal vslue Dope ndent upon
Their Digestibility.

! ThNtf ECOnOmlCoA sblue A1OP0 u~Vht upon
Their Dlgestibiiity.
The real commercial value Of all
feeding stuffs depends upon their di.
pestibility. flor any reason the food
provided for an animal is in whole or in
part indigestible, being incapable Of
being absorbed by the vtssis Of the
stomach and intestines, it is of value
,nly in the proportion Of the amount
digested and absorbed 10 the entire
amount The degree Of digestibility
Of food is determined by the capability
Of being altered by the fluids of the
stomach in manner to be reabsorbed
by it and the intestines. Pure nutri.
ments ought to be considered wholly
digestible as q justification of their
name, but there are many circum.
rences that conspire to prevent an en-.
W. w 'igestion. So, too, in case Of all
sls ss,a,, ~ !. ',ffs; while ordinary chemical
'ouusI 'r .''cate the amount of pure
nutr;ert nr;nc,n, les which they contain,
the manner Of beinh ,a', ,,ono.a s ~
of adverse conditions H., ~ oPe.a.e 10
nullify the good effect whicA ",sns oe
expected. Most folders, besid~ "na'
would naturally be considered u''
nutrients, also possess indigestible sub.
stances. Thu.e "pure proteine" may
be wholly digestble, while the crude
proteine in hay or straw, or other
coarse fodder, is only partially
digestible. Again, a substance
may be almost wholly digestible o.
itself, and yet enclosed in an indisestl'
BILE case, or by indigestible matter So
as to escape the action of the fluids o.
the stomach that operate to assist d.
gestibility. 1t Is supposed that inpass'
ing down the alimentary canal an
amount of juice of that organ is pro.
vided for action upon the food on its
entrance into the stomach. thus prepar.
ing the way for the subsequent and
more powerful action of that organ,
and so it is plain to be seen that if seeds
or grains encssed as described are
swallowed whole, they are liable to
pass through the animal undigested,
and are of no feeding value whatever
the same may also be said of feeding
stuffs possessed Of cell formation, in
which the cells are formed of indigesti.
BILE wells encssing digestible 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 if fodder
Is over-rich in, or possesses an excess
of starch, the digestibility Of the a.
buminoids is said to be diminished,
while portion Of the starch will also
escape with the excavations of the ami
NAL. 1t is very obvious that however
valuable analyses of feeding stuffs 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 be determined by
actual trial-by experiment. With
great majority Of farmers the various
kinds of grass, hay. straw, corn fodder
and all kinds of forage, either green Oh
dry, form tho bulk of the fodder u
farm animals, with the exception of tha
hog, and possess considerable amount
Of woody fiber, certain proportion a
which is digestible. The ruminanb
have power of digesting considerable
amount of crude fiber, while the horse
possesses much less power in that line.
In analyses Of different kinds of fodder
the term nitrogen-free extract is EN-.
ployed for the reason that a compari.
son Of analyses and experiments upon
digestibility have tended to show thA
the quantity Of nitrogen-free extract is
found to be almost always very nearly
the same as the digistible crude fiber.
In general all the non-nitrogenous sub.
stance Of fodder except the fat is com.
posed of carbohydrates, and has the
functions in nutrition that sugar and
starch have. The crude fat in fodders
is partially digestible and partially not
Proteine, or the basis of all the albumi.
noids, is found in feeding stuffs and
folders of all kinds, but its digestibility
is not satisfactorily understood, but by
means of feeding experiments, cslcula
tions 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 digestibility
Of a fodder is not varied by varying the
amount; it is only proportional in.
crease of nutriment; thus, if seventy.
six per cent of good hay is digestible,
only the same ratio holds good for any
quantity fed, because larger or small.
er quantity is employed only varies the
proportion of nutriment and not the
degree Of digestibility. The keepingoi
hay for long period Of time may af
feet its digestibility, but with proper
curing the dry hay should possess the
same amount Of digestible matter that
is contained in tho green substance cui
at the same time. 1t should be remem.
bered, in feeding with any special feeds,
in addition to coarse fodder. that ex.
periments 90 to show that an increase
OF proteine tends in no way to diminish
but rather to increase digestibility.
while an increase of carbo.hvdrstes