CHEMISTRY OF THE FEEDING OF ANIMALS. 197 



were put up in November, when their weights were very nearly 

 the same as those of the Duke of Bedford's sheep ; and when fat, 

 they had increased in about the same degree, namely, to an 

 average of about 150 lbs. each. The Duke of Bedford's sheep 

 were about 65 weeks in adding 50 lbs. to their weight, and mine 

 in some cases 20, and in others a little more, or about one-third 

 the time. It is somewhat singular that in May— the period at 

 which my sheep were consumed as mutton — the Duke of Bed- 

 ford's were weighed for the first time since the commencement of 

 the experiment, and were found to have increased only about 6 

 lbs. per head. 



The diflerence of result in these two cases was almost entirely 

 due to' the difference in the mode of feeding. Formerly, sheep 

 received perhaps a few turnips on their pasture, and but little dry 

 food, and that not of high feeding quality ; and the consequence 

 was, that during the colder months of the year they either lost 

 weight or increased but little. Now they have a liberal allow- 

 ance of good foocl, and are frequently protected from the in- 

 clemency of the weather. In my own experiments, just referred 

 to, the sheep were allowed from | lb. to 1 lb. of oil-cake per head 

 per day, according to their weight, about the same amount of 

 clover chaff, and as many Swedes as they chose to eat, and they 

 gave an average increase of nearly 2 per cent, upon their weight 

 per week. 



There is no doubt that in rapidly fattening stock at an early 

 age, quality of meat is to some extent sacrificed to quantit3\ But 

 it is only by means of the modern system of liberal feeding and 

 early maturity that meat can be brought within the reach of the 

 masses of the population. The farmer, too, must look to that sys- 

 tem which will pay him the best ; and the difference between the 

 price which the consumer will give for a pound of four-year-old 

 and one-year-old mutton will, only under very exceptional circum- 

 stances of locality, remunerate him for the extra cost of production. 



In conclusion, I have only now to thank you for the very kind 

 attention with which you have followed me through what I fear 

 may be thought bj'' many of you somewhat tedious detail. The 

 subject of the chemistry of feeding is, however, essentially an 

 intricate one ; and I think you will have learnt from my lecture, 

 if you did not know it before, that there still remains much to be 

 determined by careful investigation respecting it. But if I have 

 in any degree succeeded in indicating the proper points of view 



