1082 EXPERIMENT STATION RECORD. 



As previously stated, rations were selected which it was believed 

 were just sufficient for maintenance, their value for this purpose being 

 judged by variations in live weight and gain or loss of nitrogen. The 

 author compares his results with those of other investigators, and con- 

 cludes that the average steer weighing 500 kg. when fed a ration consist- 

 ing only or mainly of coarse fodder requires for maintenance 13,000 

 calories of available energy at a stable temperature of 50 to 00° F. after 

 making a deduction for the loss of energy in the form of methan. The 

 amount of protein required is also discussed. 



"It would appear that with a nutritive ratio of about 1:11, a minimum of about 

 300 gm. of proteids per day and 500 kg. live weight is required for maintenance, and 

 that any material diminution of this amount will result in a loss from the body. 

 Furthermore, however, it would appear that if the nutritive ratio be made wider, 

 this amount of proteids may be very materially reduced, at least for a time, with- 

 out leading to a loss of nitrogen by the body or to any recognizable injurious 

 consequences. 



"Finally, it may not be superfluous to point out that the term proteids as here 

 employed, following the common usages, is a conventional term. Neither the varia- 

 tions in the percentage of nitrogen in the vegetable proteids nor the presence of 

 nitrogenous metabolic products in the feces has been taken account of. As regards 

 the former, our knowledge of the composition of the proteids of coarse fodders is 

 insufficient to enable us to substitute any other factor for the conventional 6.25, so 

 that only in one experiment (No. 8) was there any approximately sufficient basis for 

 recalculation of the analytical results. 



"The metabolic products in the feces can be determined with some degree of 

 accuracy, but inasmuch as they are waste products it makes little practical differ- 

 ence in any single experiment of this sort whether we correct the apparent digesti- 

 bility of the proteids for them in order to obtain the true percentage digestibility 

 and say that the ration contained, e. g., 325 gm. of digestible proteids, of which 25 gm. 

 was required to make good the excretion of metabolic products in the feces, or 

 whether we subtract the total proteids of the feces from those of the food and say 

 that the ration contained the net amount of 300 gm. of proteids available to the body. 



"In the case of widely different rations, of course, the proportion of metabolic 

 products rnay vary and thus distort the comparison, and undoubtedly their deter- 

 mination is desirable, but it is not believed that the failure to take account of them 

 in these experiments seriously affects the value of the results as regards proteids, 

 while, as already pointed out, the results of the energy of the rations are independent 

 of it. " 



The relative value of coarse fodder and grain is also spoken of at 

 length. The article contains an extended review of the literature of 

 the subject, and the author's results are compared with those of other 

 investigators. 



Experiments on the value of meadow hay, W. von Knieriem 

 (Landic. Jahrb., 27 (1898), No. 3-4, }?p. 521-565). — Investigations con- 

 ducted at the Peterhof Experimental Farm are reported. These investi- 

 gations extended over several years and represent the work of a number 

 of individuals. Experiments with rabbits are reported on the digesti- 

 bility of white and red clover, kidney vetch, spring vetch, timothy, 

 perennial rye grass, orchard grass, and water avens, and with sheep 

 and cows on the digestibility of mixed grasses, clover, and sour grass. 



