TREE LEAVES AS FODDER.

Colonist, Volume XXXVII, Issue 7813, 14 December 1893, Page 4

TREE LEAVES AS FODDER.

The recenc drong; t in England reduced farmers to s mewhat eerious straits in respeot of finding food for the animals on their farms. Monsieur 0 H Girard, in a paper oommumoaited to tlie French Academy of Sciences, comments on this fact and calls attention to a resonrae, which he says has never yet been appreciated at its true value, namely, that afforded by the leaves of trees. The comparative amount of nitrogenous mat ers, wbioh denote feeding value, of tho various leaves, iselaßsifiedas follows : — Willow and' alder, more than 8 per osnt ; mulberry, common acacia, elm, poplar, aud lime, 6 to 7 per oect ; nut, oak, nettle, maple, and ash, 5 to 6 per ceat ; horse-cbesnut, hornbeam, and vine, 4 to 5 per cent ; plane, birch, and pine, 3to 4 per cent. The leaves in their fresh state, according to these experiments, constitute green foliage of a less watery and woody charaoter than is generally believed and with regard to carbo-hydrates and nitrogenous matters, they are (with three ex ceptions) superior to green lucerne. This richness of leaves is, explained by the small qaantity of water which they contain, but even in comparing the hay which they produce with that of artificial or natural grass lands, the some- superiority in fat matters aud other carbo-hydrate principles is to be found. As to nitrogenous matter, out of twenty-one kinds of leaves studied, 19 were found to posses more fchanmeaaow hay, and above half of them were superior to hay of iha best leguminous plants. Some are of ai ex'raordinary richness, the common acacia, for example, M, tiirsrd wa9 able, from hie analysis and from direct experience in the feeding of sheep, to draw the conclusion that the leaves fcava a feeding value comparable to that of lucerne, and consequently constitute forage of the first order. Their utilisation, he explains, will at the same time profit both the cattle and the soil by bringing to the farm, almost for nothing, feeding and fertilizing properties. M. Girard, of course, does not advice the farmer to oat down all the trees on his property for the purpose of feeding his stock. In times of scarcity, bowever, he suggests that by late leafage, by prunning, and by cutting off the tops and underwood, there would be procured at a little cost, an important Bupply of food. He is also of opinion that the poor soil,, which is not suitable for ordinary cultivation, might be oapable of producing a good deal of forage r % Ranting it with suitable trees. In warm climates particularly, it is urged, it might be well to try the experiment if only on account of the resistance to drought which trees afford. He warns farmers, however, a gain si using the leaves of the fern trefoil jew, walnut, goalie, oleander, eamao, and daphne, as these are ail more or less poisonous to cattle.