ds, and as they are unsaleable,
and must therefore be made use of in some way at home, it is well to
consider the best way to dispose of them. In the case of straw, the
greater portion will be required for litter, and if the whole of the
damaged article can be disposed of in this way so much the better. If,
however, there is more than is necessary for the bedding of the stock,
it may be used in conjunction with sound fodder, but always in a cooked
state. The greater part, if not the whole, of the diseased nitrogenous
part of the straw is soluble in warm water, so that if the fodder be
well steamed the poisonous matter will be eliminated to such an extent
as to leave the article almost as wholesome as good straw, but not so
nutritious. The straw cleansed in this way will be very deficient in
flesh-forming, though not in fat-forming power, and this fact should
be duly considered when the other items of the animal's food are
being weighed out. Beans, malt-combs, and linseed-cake are rich in
muscle-forming principles, and are consequently suitable adjuncts to
damaged fodder; but the latter should never constitute the staple food,
or be given unmixed with some sweet provender.

When the fodder is considerably damaged it becomes, after steaming,
nearly as tasteless as sawdust. To this kind of stuff the addition of a
small amount of some flavorous material is very useful. For damaged hay,
Mr. Bowick recommends the following mixture:--

Fenugreek (powdered) 112 parts.
Pimento 4 "
Aniseed 4 "
Caraways 4 "
Cummin 2 "

A pinch of this compound will render agreeably-flavored the most insipid
kinds of fodder.

Mr. Bowick states that he had fed large numbers of bullocks on damaged
hay, flavored with this compound, and that their health was not thereby
injured in the slightest degree.

SECTION V.

ROOTS AND TUBERS.

The important part which the so-called root crops play in the modern
systems of agriculture, has secured for them a large share of the
attention of the chemist, so that our knowledge of their composition
and relative nutritive value is very extensive. As compared with most
other articles of food, the roots, as they are popularly called, of
potatoes, turnips, mangels, carrots, and suc