370 EXPERIMENT STATION RECORD. 



In an experiment in which liarley was compared with frozen wheat, one lot 

 of pigs fed harley and middlings made an average daily gain per pig of 1.08 

 lbs. in 120 days. A lot fed frozen wheat and middlings made a corresponding 

 gain of 1.1 lbs., and a lot fed a mixture of barley, frozen wheat, and middlings 

 a gain of 1.18 lbs. 



Alfalmo and gluten feed for fattening steers, W. J. Kennedy (Iowa State 

 Col. Agr. Rpt., 1D07-S, pp. lol, 152). — A basal ration of corn and hay was fed 

 for 140 days to 34 steers divided into two equal lots. The lot fed a supple- 

 mentary ration averaging 3.22 lbs. per day of alfalmo, a commercial feed, made 

 an average daily gain of 2.42 lbs., and yielded a profit of .$1.50 per steer. The 

 lot fed an average of 2.12 lbs. of gluten feed daily made an average daily gain of 

 2.11 lbs., and yielded a profit of $2.05 per steer. 



Steer feeding, J. M. Scott (Florida Sta. Rpt. 1908, pp. XXIII-XXVII).— 

 The data have been noted from another source (E. S. R., 20, p. 1066). 



Cattle feeding- experiments in Britain, H. Ingle (Trans. Highland and Agr. 

 Soc. Scot., 5. scr., 21 (1909), pp. 796-25-)).— This Is a summary of over 200 feed- 

 ing tests with cattle between 1838 and 1908. The data collected are presented 

 in tabular form. 



The relation of feeds to the formation of renal calculi in rams, Ij. G. 

 Michael et al. (loua State Col. Agr. Rpt., 1907-8, pp. lJf2-l.'iJi). — This is a pre- 

 liminary report of a study of the effect of feeding roots on the excretion of nitro- 

 gen and phosi)liorns by the kidneys. 



Mangels and sugar beets appear to affect the kidneys similarly. A small 

 calculus was found in one kidney of a ram fed on sugar beets. The membrane 

 about the calculus and extending down into the urethra was pigmented a decided 

 black. In the kidney of a ram feil mangels the same kind of pigmentation oc- 

 curred but no calculus was present. Both rams gained in weight throughout 

 the experiment. The sugar beet-fed ram dressed 52.52 per cent of the live 

 weight, the mangel-fed ram 48.9 per cent, and the dry-fed ram 41.92 per cent. 



"The bodies of the sugar-beet ram and the mangel ram were much fatter 

 than the dry-fed ram. This was especially true of the superficial fat about the 

 kidneys. The increase in fat accounts for the gains in weight ' made by the 

 root-fed rams and in part for the low percentage of body nitrogen. . . . On a fat 

 free basis, the carcass of [the dry fed] ram contains 28.25 per cent protein, 

 [the mangel fed] ram 30.28 per cent, and [the sugar beet] ram 30.56 per cent. 

 This shows that the feeding of mangels and sugar beets is accompanied by a 

 replacement of the ' red-fiesh ' of the animal by fat. The disappearance of the 

 flesh is largely due to the washing out of the nitrogen by the large amount of 

 water ingested with the roots. . . . ' 



" These roots containe<I from 87 to 90 per cent of water. The immediate 

 effect of this increased ingestion of water was an increased voiding of water 

 with the urine and later, also, with the feces. . . . 



"The specific gravity does not, as is so often stated, vary inversely as the 

 volume of urine excreted. . . . The reason why the specific gravity does not 

 vary markedly is that the increased excretion of water by the kidneys is accom- 

 panied by an increased excretion of dissolved solids. . . . 



"About the third period of this investigation we began to notice that the 

 volume of urine excreted, together with its density, had some relationship to the 

 weight of nitrogen excreted. . . . 



" This throwing oft' nitrogen with the increased ingestion of water may lead 

 to the explanation of the added nitrogen requirement of dairy cows which are 

 forced to ingest the greatest possible amount of water ; this ingestion being fol- 

 lowed by an increased milk flow without detriment to the quality of the milk. 

 However, only a portion of the added water ingested goes to increase the milk 



