112 FISH FODDER FOR CATTLE. 



is as good value as the ordinary feeding meals now in the market ; 

 and there need be no doubt that, when experience has shown 

 how the meal should be fed so as to produce the best results, it 

 will be found to be one of the most economical and useful of 

 bye -fodders. 



It is probable that, in the dry climate of Norway, the drying 

 and manufacturing of herring meal is a much easier matter than 

 with us, and that it can be produced there at a price with which 

 we cannot compete. That is a subject for experiment, but 

 there can be no doubt that, if the substance can be made profit- 

 ably, it will be a boon not only to farmers, but to fishermen 

 around our coasts, who from various causes frequently fail to 

 find a market for their fish, and are compelled to put back to 

 sea with their hard-won harvest, and throw it overboard. 



THE VALUE OF FISH MEAL AS FODDER FOR CATTLE IN 

 COMPARISON WITH OTHER KINDS OF CONCENTRATED 

 FODDER. 



By John Speir, Newton Farm, Newton, Glasgow. 



[Premium — Fifteen Sovereigns."] 



This experiment was begun on 22nd May 1886, by selecting six 

 cows in milk, all of the Ayrshire breed, and average samples of 

 their class. Numbers 1 and 2 of these were cows which had 

 been giving milk for about six months, 3 and 4 had calved about 

 three months ago, while 5 and 6 were only recently calved. For 

 the first week all were fed in the usual way — viz., at 5.30 a.m. 

 they got 1 lb. of steamed meal each, mixed with water and a 

 little draff; immediately after they were turned out to the fields, 

 where they remained till 3.30 P.M., when they were brought in 

 to be milked. After milking, another 1 lb. of meal and draff 

 was given them, followed immediately after by an armful of 

 vetches or cut grass. They were not put out after the evening's 

 milking, and received nothing till after milking next morning, 

 which was at 4 A.M. 



The meal given to the ordinary stock was composed of equal 

 parts of wheat, cotton cake, and ^th each of Egyptian beans 

 and muttor peas, all mixed together when being ground. The 

 grinding was done at home by a Carter's disintegrator, and was 

 very fine. Previous to feeding, all meal was submitted to the 

 action of steam by being boiled to a thin porridge from one to 

 two hours. It was then mixed with a little draff to give body 

 to it, and make it easier handled and less liable to get into 

 lumps. The milk from each cow was carefully weighed at each 



