IgQ ' ' BOARD OF AGRICULTURE. 



of the food recorded as required by the different animals. Thus, to 

 produce the same amount of increase, oxen consume a much larger 

 proportion of hay, containing* so much indigestible matter, than 

 sheep ; whilst pigs are fattened on a diet as concentrated and con- 

 taining as little indigestible substance as corn alone. The actual 

 amounts of food assumed to be required for the production of 100 

 lbs. increase in live weight are — for oxen, 250 lbs. of oil-cake, 600 

 lbs. of hay-chaff", and 3500 lbs. of Swedes ; for sheep, 250 lbs. of 

 oil-cake, 300 lbs. of hay-chaff", and 4000 lbs. of Swedes ; and for 

 pigs, 500 lbs. of barley meal. 



It will be remembered that, when speaking of the composition 

 of the animals themselves, their constituents were grouped under 

 the heads of nitrogenous substance, non-nitrogenous substance, 

 mineral matter, and total dry substance, and the same classifi- 

 cation is, for convenience of comparison, adopted in reference to 

 the composition of the food, increase, and manure, of the different 

 animals as recorded in Table III. As the food of the pig is the 

 most simple, I will direct your attention to the figures relating to 

 it in the first place. These will be found in the lowest division of 

 the table. 



The 500 lbs. of barley meal consumed in increasing the weight 

 of the pig from 100 to 200 lbs. contained 420 lbs. of dry substance, 

 and the 100 lbs. increase in live weight produced by it not quite 

 74 lbs. ; about 70 lbs. remain in the manure, and 276 out of the 

 420 lbs. consumed were expended in respiration, and other ex- 

 halations from the body. Nearly two-thirds of the whole dry 

 substance consumed have, therefoi'e, been expended in keeping in 

 working order the living meat and manure-making machine. 



Looking to the column showing the composition of the 100 lbs, 

 of increase, it is seen that it contains only 7 lbs. of nitrogenous 

 substance, and 66 lbs., or more than 9 times as much non-nitro- 

 genous- substance or fat, whilst the mineral matter does not 

 amount to 1 per cent. The general result is, then, that nearly 

 two-thirds of the fattening increase in live weight were pure fat 

 itself, and only about one-fourteenth of it nitrogenous substance 

 or lean meat. 



But to produce the 7 lbs. of nitrogenous substance in increase, 

 52 lbs. were consumed in food ; by far the greater part of the re- 

 mainder being found in the manure. To produce the 66 lbs. of 

 fat, 357 lbs. of non-nitrogenous substance were consumed ; but as 

 it existed in the food almost entirely in the form of starch, and as 



