FOODS ANIMAL PRODUCTION. 677 



the flavor, and cooking qualities of the eggs from the lot fed clover 

 were regarded as superior. 



Skim milk as food for young growing chickens, W. B. Ander 

 son [Indiana Sta. Bui. 71, pp. 60-HS). — A test of the value of skim milk 

 for chickens was made with 2 lots containing 10 Plymouth Rocks and 

 10 Houdans. Each lot was given all they would eat of a mixture of 

 crushed corn, bran, and ground oats, 2:1:1. Both lots were also fed 

 cracked bone, cabbage, and lettuce and had access to water. The 

 amount of these articles consumed is not recorded. The two lots 

 received the same treatment in every respect, except that lot 2 was 

 given all the skim milk they would eat in addition to the grain ration. 

 The test began July 11 and closed September 5. During the test one 

 chicken in lot 1 died. Lot 1 consumed 179.S lbs. grain, and the average 

 weekly gain per chicken was 2.02 oz. Lot 2 consumed 217.3 lbs. grain 

 and 90.4 lbs: skim milk, and the weekly average gain per chicken was 

 4.4G oz. The following conclusions were drawn: 



" If skitn milk be added to the ration fed to young chickens it will increase the con- 

 sumption of the other foods given. The great increase in average gain was coinci- 

 dent with the periods when the greatest amount of skim milk was consumed. Skim 

 milk is especially valuable as a food for young chickens during the hot, dry weather, 

 and becomes of less importance as the chickens grow older and the weather becomes 

 cooler." 



Gravel and sand in the digestive apparatus of fowls, I. Abozin 

 (Selsh. Khoz. i Lyesov., 187 (1897), No. 1.2, pp. 595-601). — Several experi- 

 ments were made with hens to determine whether the gravel and sand 

 eaten have any other function besides assisting in grinding the food. 

 In the first test 2 sitting hens were fed buckwheat mush and sour milk 

 but no sand or gravel. After 10 days one of the hens was killed. She 

 had lost 202 gm. in weight. Not more than a gram of sand and gravel 

 was found in the digestive tract, and no sand was found in the feces. 

 The second hen was killed at the end of 20 days and dissected. She 

 had lost 163 gm. in weight. The stomach contained 10 gm. of gravel 

 but none was found in the feces. In both cases the bones were thin 

 and brittle. The skeleton formed only 5 per cent of the total live 

 weight, instead of per cent, which is normal. 



The test was repeated several times. In some cases the hens were 

 fed soft foods, in other cases grain; they were given no sand or gravel. 

 In every case the bones became thinner, more crumbly, and weighed 

 less than normal. 



The principal conclusions reached were the following: Gravel and 

 sand are uniformly distributed throughout the food in the stomachs of 

 fowls. This material renders the stomach contents porous and thus 

 makes digestion more regular and also renders the passage of the food 

 from the stomach into the intestine more rapid and easy. Gravel and 

 sand are in large part if not entirely dissolved in the stomach of fowls 

 and furnish nutritive material for the bones. The author discusses 



