1917] ANIMAL PRODUCTION. 569 



Ground soy beans and cottonseed meal were compared as supplements, involv- 

 ing lots 7 and 8. The appetites of both lots were equally good, but the results 

 slightly favored cottonseed meal. In a comparison of open shed v. barn as 

 shelter for fattening lambs, involving lots 6 and 9, no difference was found in 

 grain or hay consumption of the two lots. Silage consumption was slightly 

 greater in the open shed, this being due to the fact that these lambs learned to 

 relish silage sooner than those in the barn. 



Other data in reference to comparisons of feeds and shelter are given in the 

 above table. 



The cost of gains and profits were based on the following figures: Initial 

 value of lambs 8.85 cts. per pound ; corn, first month 47.2, second month 54.8, 

 third month 61.7, and^last 10 days 64 cts. per bushel; oats (a small quantity of 

 which was used in accustoming lambs to rations ) 32 cts. per bushel ; and cottonseed 

 meal and ground soy beans $38, molasses .$30, clover and alfalfa hay $12, oat 

 straw $5, and corn silage $4.50 per ton. 



Ewes' milk: Its fat content and relation to the growth of lambs, E. G. 

 UiTZMAN (t7. S. Dept. Agr., Jour. Agr. Research, 8 (1917), No. 2, pp. 29-36, 

 fig. 1). — Data are reported on this subject from the New Hampshire Experiment 

 Station, covering six distinct breeds and including native sheep and 11 types of 

 first-generation crosses of sheep which may be considered as nonmilk breeds. 



The fat content of 158 samples of ewes' milk taken at approximately one month 

 after lambing varied from 2.4 to 12.1 per cent, the average being 6 per cent. 

 Averages are given for the breeds and crosses for different age periods. These 

 averages are practically equal for any age period from two to .seven years, vary- 

 ing from 5.3 per cent at seven years to 6.38 per cent at five years. Wide varia- 

 tion was found in the fat content of samples of milk from the first, second, and 

 third lactation periods of individual ewes. The average fat content of all the 

 samples from 46 ewes was for the first year 5.67 per cent, second year 6.03 per 

 cent, and third year 5.81 per cent. 



A study was made of the growth of suckling lambs of 138 ewes whose milk 

 varied in fat content from 2 to 10 per cent. The highest gains, 37 lbs., were 

 made from milk testing from 2 to 3 per cent fat and the lowest gains, 18 lbs., 

 from milk testing 10 per cent or over. On elimination of these extreme cases 

 the fluctuation in weight increase bore no relation to the fat content of the milk. 

 The limiting factor for growth in these tests was apparently the quantity of 

 milk. Based on close observation, verified by the actual amounts of milk drawn 

 for the determintion of fat, these 138 ewes were classified according to milk 

 yield as high, good, fair, and poor. The average weights of the lambs of these 

 classes were at 4 weeks 14.7, 13.4, 10.8, and 8 lbs. ; at 8 weeks 34, 29.3, 24.6, and 

 19 lbs. ; at 12 weeks 50.2, 43.3, 35.4, and 30 lbs. ; and at 16 weeks 60.7, 55.3, 45.4, 

 and 39 lbs., respectively. All the lambs had free access to a liberal amount of 

 grain and hay which they ate greedily after they were about 8 weeks of age. 



A list of the literature cited is given. 



Feeding pure-bred draft fillies, J. L. Edmonds {lUiiiois Sta. B%a. 192 (1916), 

 pp. 4^6-448. figs. IS). — In this experiment 10 pure-bred Percheron fillies were 

 fed from weanlings to two years of age to determine the efliciency of alfalfa 

 hay. corn, and oats. The experiment began December 8, 1914, and ended when 

 the fillies were turned on pasture May 8, 1916, thus covering two winter and 

 one summer feeding periods. Oats and corn were fed, one-half of each by 

 weight, with alfalfa hay as the sole roughage. During the first winter the 

 uats and corn were ground, and after that whole oats and shelled corn were 

 fed. The pasture was a blue-grass sod, containing a slight mixture of other 

 grasses. Analyses are given of the grain and hay used in the experiment. 

 85476°— No. 6—17 6 



