CONVENTION OF COLLEGES AND EXPEKIMENT STATIONS. 415 



Ziiiitz. Kclliicr, and liim^cll'. '■ "We staiul in uriivnt need," he said, 

 "of actual (lot(M'minati()iis 1)y modci'ii methods of the nutritive vahie 

 of feeding stuffs for dili'erent purposes, the resuhs of which we may 

 substitute for the assumptions on which we are now basinj:^ our 

 teachinofs." 



Among" the suhjecls for investigation mentioned were studies upon 

 the diiference in the value of fe(Mls for maintenance and for 2:)ro- 

 duction, studies of the physiological value of individual chemical 

 ingredients, the inlluence of aromatic and flavoring substances in 

 feeding stuffs, variations in individual re(|uirenients of food for pro- 

 duction, the protein re(iuirement. and the influence of food upon the 

 (juality of the product, lint in addition to these more scientific 

 studies, the speaker em])liasize(| the ini])ortance of the practical feed- 

 ing experiment, remarking that " the more thorough and exhaustive 

 our scientific studies of nutrition become, the greater will be our 

 need for correlated practical experiments, scientifically jDlanned, to 

 answer definite questions regarding the application in j^ractice of 

 the i)rinciples worked out in the laboratory or the respiration ap- 

 paratus.'' 



This article was so suggestive of the needs of animal" nutrition that 

 it is hoj^ed to publish it in full in a subsequent issue of this journal. 



In the discussion of the paper Dr. Jordan called attention to the 

 effect of certain mineral ingredients of the food upon digestion, and 

 the reaction of certain food constituents upon the animal, as illus- 

 trations of a class of investigations which do not require expensive 

 apparatus. 



Professor Mumford's paper dealt with the essentials of practical 

 experiments in feeding for meat production, precautions to be ob- 

 served, and factors which influence the results and conclusions. The 

 subject was treated under the head of the investigator and his point 

 of A'iew, the nature of the investigation, i)lan, execution, interpreta- 

 tion, and ])resentation. 



Director llills. in his paper on Methods of Exi^erimentation in 

 Feeding for Milk l^roduction. divided his subject into the scheme, the 

 animals, and their environment. He favored the alternation plan 

 of testing rations, discussed the length of period, numljer of cows, 

 ]wriod of lactation, and the extent of the experimental error, ui^on 

 which the Vermont Station has been working for several years. 



The report of the committee on unification of terms used in ex- 

 ]n'essing analytical results, read by Dr. C. G. Hopkins, recommended 

 the adoption as rapidly as possible of the element sj^stem of report- 

 ing results in case of fertilizers, soils, etc., and such changes in fer- 

 tiliz.er laws as this would require. It suggested ten years as the 

 l)eriod for making this gradual change from the present system. It 



