372 EXPERIMENT STATION RECORD. [Vol.38 



Wool growing in Australia, R. W. Hakrowell (Nat. Wool Grower, 7 (1917), 

 No. 10, pp. 11-13). — Sales to the British Government were made the last 

 season of 323,748,376 lbs. greasy wool and 34,310,645 lbs. scoured wool. The 

 average price of greusj' wool was 29.5 cts. per pound, or on a clean cost basis 

 of 31 cts. The most serious drawbaclc to sheep raising during the year was the 

 blow fly, causing losses estimated at £378,000. To avoid losses from drought, 

 larger storage of hay, fodder, and silage is being practiced. 



The economical feeding of pigs, G. Tuenbuxl (Jour. Brit. Dairy Farmers* 

 Assoc, 81 (1917), pp. 130-136). — A resume of results from various experiments. 



War rations for hogs (Wallaces' Farmer, Jf2 (1917), No. 42, pp. U15, 1420, 

 figs. 2). — At a farmers' meeting held at Ames, Iowa, the results of various ex- 

 periments with new and by-product feeds were announced. The various feeds 

 were fed to over 100 hogs. Among the unusual feeds were corn oil calie meal 

 and garbage. 



When three self-feeders were used, the first containing shelled corn, the 

 second meat meal or tanlsage, and the third corn oil cake, the average daily 

 gains on timonthy pasture were 1.38 lbs. per head, as compared with 1.11 lbs. on 

 a typical shelled corn, meat meal, or tankage ration, self-fed. With garbage 

 before them at all times, the hogs gained about 1 lb. a day. With hogs at $15, 

 the daily value of the garbage from 100 persons is estimated at about 86 cts. 



Pushing pigs on alfalfa pasture, J. M. Ewakd and R. Dunn (III. Agr., 21 

 (1917), No. 7, pp. 474, 475, 507).— To test the value of alfalfa pasture for pigs, 

 six lots about 2i months old and weighing appi'oximately 55 lbs. each were fed 

 until they averaged 225 lbs. The first five lots were pastured on alfalfa and 

 were fed in addition as follows : Lot 1, one-half ration of shelled corn and 

 meat meal tankage twice daily ; lot 2, three-quarter ration of shelled corn and 

 meat meal tankage twice daily; lot 3, shelled corn to the limit of appetite and 

 meat meal tankage twice daily ; lot 4, same as lot 3 but fed three times daily ; 

 and lot 5, shelled corn self-fed and meat meal tankage self-fed. Lot 6 was 

 kept in a dry lot and given shelled corn self-fed. 



The best returns were produced by lot 5, which made faster gains on the 

 smallest amount of both corn and tankage, requiring 3.74 lbs. of concentrated 

 feed per pound of gain. Lot 4 came next, with a requirement of 3.89 lbs. 

 feed per pound of gain, followed by lots 2 and 3. 



The value of the alfalfa pasture in comparison with that of the concentrated 

 feed saved was $30 per acre, and with one crop of hay cut the same season, the 

 total value was $42 for the year. 



Tlie value of potatoes in swine feeding, F. G. Ashbeook (Proo. Potato Assoc. 

 Amer., 3 (1916), pp. 79-83). — A general discussion of the subject, with data 

 from various experiments. 



Studies on the physiology of reproduction in the domestic fov/1. — XVII, 

 The influence of age upon reproductive ability, with a description of a new 

 reproductive index, R, Peakl (Genetics, 2 (1917), No. 5, pp. 417-432, figs. 3). — 

 Statistical evidence accumulated in nine years' work at the Maine Experiment 

 Station regarding the influence of age upon reproductive capacity in Barred 

 Plymouth Rock fowls is presented. As a result of this study, which involved 

 1,114 matings, an index is proposed for the measurement of the net reproductive 

 ability of matings of the fowl. This index expresses the actual number of 

 chicks produced by the mating and capable of living three weeks after hatching 

 as a percentage of the maximum total number of chicks which it would be 

 physiologically possible for the mating to produce during the time which it en- 

 dures, or one living chick three weeks of age per hen for each day during which 

 the mating existed. 



