FOODS ANIMAL PRODUCTION. 985 



"One of the objects of these experiments was to discover whether the feeding 

 values of the by-fodders used were in harmony with their market prices. Last year 

 it was found that they were pretty far out, and that linseed cake was ou the whole 

 thedearest. This year, when the amount of turnips fed was raised from 50 to 80 lbs. 

 per head per day and the by-fodders reduced by one-fourth, the discrepancy between 

 market price and feeding value is not so great, and linseed cake is no longer the 

 dearest. The results of the experiment have been such as to enable us in their 

 interpretation to take a wide range, and to afford information of a kind more valu- 

 able than can be obtained from a consideration of the mere question of price in 

 relation to feeding value. Prices are constantly varying, and feeding value is seen 

 to be a much more complex thing than would appear from the sole consideration of 

 increase of live weight. 



"The results of the 2 years' experiments have brought into prominence the 

 supremo importance of the quality of the turnips grown upon the farm as a determi- 

 nant of the feeding progress of the stock. The quantity eaten in 1897 was greater 

 than in 1896, but on the other hand there was a considerable diminution in the quan- 

 tity of by-fodders. On both occasions the quantity of by-fodders eaten was as much 

 as the cattle could conveniently consume along with their turnip supply, but owing 

 to the superior quality of the turnips the actual amount of true food derived from 

 that source was practically doubled in the latter year, and it is to that circumstance 

 that we must ascribe their greatly enhanced progress." 



Sheep feeding experiments at Ferney Castle and Whitelaw, 

 1897, A. P. Aitken ( Trans. Highland and Ayr. Soc. Scotland, 5. ser., 

 10 (1898), pp. 281-292).— In continuation of previous work (E. S. R., 9, 

 p. 477) the author reports experiments with sheep made at Ferney Cas- 

 tle by A. S. Logan and at Whitelaw by A. G. Spence, to compare oil 

 cake and grain when fed in addition to a full ration of turnips. In each 

 case the tests were made with 4 lots of 20 grade sbeep. The lots were 

 carefully selected and were regarded as very nearly uniform. The 

 experiment at Ferney Castle began February 3, 1897, and covered 86 

 days; that at Wbitelaw began February 5 and covered 85 days. In 

 both tests lot 1 was fed decorticated cotton- seed cake and dried brewers' 

 grains 1:1, lot 2 linseed cake, lot 3 bruised oats and barley 1 : 1, and lot 

 4 bruised oats and maize 1 : 1. The concentrated foods were given at 

 the rate of 1 lb. per head daily, each farm being supplied from the same 

 source. The linseed cake fed to lot 2 was after a time reduced to % lb., 

 since the amount at first fed was evidently too large. 



"At Ferney Castle the sheep were penned on turnip land, and were shifted about 

 as the land grew foul, and during the last 3 weeks they were kept on lea. They 

 were fed all the time on Swedish turnips. At Whitelaw the lots were penned on 

 turnip land and fed on yellow turnips till the middle of March ; thereafter they were 

 shifted onto lea, and from March 25 till the close of the experiment they were fed on 

 Swedish turnips." 



The composition of the foods is reported, as well as the amounts con- 

 sumed and gains made by the different lots. At the close of the test 

 the sheep were slaughtered and the weights of the carcasses, tallow, 

 and wool are recorded. The average gains in weight per head for the 

 different lots were as follows: At Ferney Castle, lot 1, 21.8 lbs.; lot 2, 

 21.6 lbs.; lot 3, 9.6 lbs.; and lot 4, 11.2 lbs. At Whitelaw, lot 1, 28 lbs.; 

 lot 2, 29.1 lbs. ; lot 3, 16.4 lbs., and lot 4, 14.3 lbs. The average divssed 



