312 



THE FARMER'S MAGAZINE. 



RELATIVE VALUE OF RAPE AND LINSEED CAKE FOR FEEDING PURPOSES. 



Sir, — Having been rather sceptical aa to Mr. Mechi'8 

 statement, that rapecake was as valuable fot feeding purposes 

 a3 linseedcake, I resolved to try aa experiment to test the 

 truth of such assertion. 



On the 7th of last December I drew six two-tooth Down 

 sheep from a flock that had been eating lib. of rapecake each 

 per day for five weeks; I shut them up in two pens of three 

 each, in a shed ; both pens of sheep had as many swedes aa 

 they chose, and lib. of good clover each per day. To one 

 pen I gave l:ilb. of rapecake, to the other pen l:jlb. linseed- 

 cake each sheep, which was continued fourteen days. I then 

 increased the cake to l|lb. per sheep per day in both pens, 

 still continuiug the clover and swedes as at the beginning. I 

 continued the experiment seventy days. I found no differ- 

 ence in the quantity of swedes eaten between the lirst and last 

 week of the eiperiment ; the sheep were weighed when shut 

 up, and at various times during the experiment. The rape- 

 cake cost £6 63. per ton, the linseedcake £12 lOs. per ton. I 

 likewise add the value of the swedes and hay, to show how 

 dearly we sometimes purchase dung by feeding on articles of 

 ready sale, as swedes and clover both are this year. I charge 

 £6 per ton for the clover, and £1 per ton for the swedes. I 

 now find I have about five yards of good dung to pay for, 

 atteudance, aud litter. 



Having used rapecake several years, I find a great drawback 

 to the use of it — the difficulty to get the sheep to eat it. With 

 linseedcake there is but little difficulty (and that only at the 

 commeacemeut), the sheep eat it readily, and the allowance is 

 eaten up in a few minutes, and the troughs turned over, to 

 be kept dry and clean. Not so with the rapecake; the sheep 

 not relishing the rapecake, some is left iu the trough the 

 whole day, and if the weather be damp, it soon acquires a very 

 unpleasant smell, with which the sheep are disgusted. I 

 would advise everyone using rapecake to be very particular as 

 to the cleaaliness of the troughs. There is likewise this draw- 

 back to rapecakei, the uneveuuess of the fatting of the flock ; 

 having cake to run to when they choose, some of the sheep 

 will eat more than their allowance, others little or none. It 

 will be seen on reference to table. Pen A, No. 2 gained 3 stone 

 lib., while No. 3 only gained 1 stone 21b3. I explain the 

 cause of the difference in this way : at the commencement of 

 the experiment all three sheep in Pen A ate the cake readily ; 

 but when they found they had as many good cut swedes as 

 they chose, they began to refuse the cake; consequently 

 some was left iu the trough the whole day : and I have no 

 doubt No. 2 ate much more than his allowance, as he was 

 generally the first and last at the cake- trough. In Pen B the 

 cake was all consumed in a few minutes, all partaking of it. 



The cakes were both of English manufacture. I have caU 

 culated the weights in stones of Slbs. 



o o o ET. 



■ ■ ■ D 

 03 to >-' n 



p p p ^ 



1^ iJT 05 



t;'- >i^ o 



I o o> o 



00 00 



00 >(i>. 



CO to CO 

 )(>■ too 



>(^ n CO : 



en to en ! 



AVeight when Shut Up, 



Live Weight when 

 Killed. 



Weight of Carcase 

 when Dead. 



Weight of Caul Fat. 



~ a- 



O 1.5 



o bj 



Number of Days Shut 

 Up. 



Live Weight Gained. 



Quantity of Oilcake 

 Eaten. 



Quantity of Clover-hay. 



Quantity of Swedes. 



Cost of Cake. 



Cost of Hay. 



Cost of Swedes. 



If the enclosed is worthy a corner in your valuable paper, 

 you are welcome to it, and remain Yours, &c.. 



Kemsing, Sevenoalcs, Feb, 27. 



T, Stonham. 



