184 BOARD OF AGRICULTURE, 



consume so much food, void so much more as manure, and expend 

 BO much more in respiration, for a given amount of increase pro- 

 duced, as we have seen they do. 



The other columns of the table show, however, that neither the 

 amount of dry substance of food consumed, nor the amount lost 

 by respiration, by a given weight of animal within a given time, 

 is in excess with the pig in anything like the proportion that its 

 increase exceeds that of the other animals. In other words, the 

 much higher character of the food of the pig shows itself in the 

 much greater rapidity, and the much greater proportion of its 

 conversion into meat — the most valuable product of the feeding 

 operation. 



Lastly in regard to the results in this table, it is remarkable 

 tiiat, whilst, for a given weight of the body within a given time, 

 the amounts of increase yielded, and of dry substance consumed 

 in food, and lost by respiration, are so very different for the differ- 

 ent animals, the amounts of dry substance voided in excrements 

 are almost identical. I shall show further on that the limit of 

 consumption is much regulated by the amount of non-nitrogenous 

 substance contained in the food ; and hence it would appear that 

 the respiratory function had much to do with determining the 

 amount of food consumed. It would also seem, from the equality 

 of amount of dry substance voided by a given live weight of the 

 different descriptions of animal within a given time, that the limit 

 of consumption had also some connection with the amount of 

 transformed and effete matter that the system could pass ; and 

 hence that the surplus available for increase was* fixed by the 

 necessary proportion of digestible and assimilable to effete matter 

 in the appropriate food of the respective animals. 



To sum up the points thus far illustrated, it may be said — 



1. That during the fattening process the proportion, in a given 

 weight of the body, of water, mineral matter, and nitrogenous 

 compounds decreases, whilst that of the fat very considerably 

 increases. 



2. That the carcass parts, or saleable meat, increase more 

 rapidly than trie internal parts or offal. 



3. That the amount of dry substance of food required to pro- 

 duce a given weight of increase is larger with the ox than with 

 the sheep, and larger with the sheep than with the pig. 



4. That the dry substance of the food of the ox contains a larger 



