Meadow hay, 14 30 40 7·1 2 to 5 D. 5 to 10 Clover hay, 14 25 40 9·3 3·0 9 Pea straw, 10 to 15 25 45 12·3 1·5 5 Oat do. 12 45 35 1·3 0·8 6 Wheat do. 12 to 15 50 30 1·3 0·5 5 Barley do. do. 50 30 1·3 0·8 5 Rye do. do. 45 38 1·3 0·5 3 Indian corn do. 12 25 52 3·0 1·7 4 This table, it will be perceived, is far from settling the _precise_ relative value of the different enumerated articles. An absolute, unchanging value can never be assumed of any one substance, as the quality of each must differ with the particular variety, the soil upon which it is grown, the character of the season, the manner of curing, and other circumstances. An approximate relative value is all that can be expected, and this we may hope ere long to obtain, from the spirit of analytical research, which is now developed and in successful progress. More especially do we need these investigations with _American products_, some of which are but partially cultivated in Europe, whence we derive most of our analyses. And many which are there reared, differ widely from those produced here, as these also differ from each other. What, for instance, is the character of _meadow hay_? We know that this varies as four to one, according to the particular kinds grown; and our Indian corn has certainly a less range than from five to nine. The Changes in the Food of Animals. Potatoes, when first ripe, are estimated to be worth, for feeding purposes, nearly twice as much as when old; and the relative value of the different kinds, varies greatly at the same age and under similar conditions of growth. Perrault ascertained by careful experiment, that hay, clover, and lucerne lost much of their nutritive qualities by drying, and in lucerne this loss amounted to about thirty-five per cent. This is an important consideration in the feeding of green and dry forage. Oats are among the best feed, both for young and working animals; but it has been found that they are greatly improved for the latter, and perhaps for both, by allowing the new crop to remain till the latter part of winter, before feeding. The improvement by steaming and cooking food, is seldom sufficiently appreciated. Food properly managed, can never be made worse by cooking for any stock; although it has not been considered so essential for working, and generally, for ruminating animals, as for swine, and such as were stall-feeding. But the alteration produced in cooking, by fitting it for a more ready assimilation, must, as a general rule, add much to the value of the food, and the rapid improvement of the animal.