774 EXPERIMENT STATION RECORD. [Vol.38 



A number of experiments made in Scotland and Ireland are cited and dis- 

 cussed. The author describes one in which he reared calves on 100 gal. of 

 whole milk each, which with a good cow means about eight calves, using calf 

 meal, cake, and grain as supplements. The scheme as carried out was as 

 follows : 



Beginning the first week the calf was given 8 gal. of milk, which was in- 

 creased to 10.5 gal. from the second to the fourth and then gradually decreased 

 to 1.75 gal. the sixteenth week. Beginning the fourth week the calf was fed 10 

 pints of gruel, which was gradually increased to 42 pints the twelfth week and 

 reduced to 28 pints by the sixteenth. At the seventh week 1.75 lbs. of calf meal 

 was fed, which was gradually increased to 7 lbs. weekly at the sixteenth. 

 Good hay was given after four weeks, and turnips and grass when the calves 

 would take them. The calf up to 16 weeks consumed 100 gal. of milk, 47 gal. 

 of gruel, and 88 lbs. of calf meal. 



The calf meal was made up of linseed meal, crushed linseed, wheat par- 

 ings, and locust-bean meal, 4:2:1:1. The gruel was made of from 2 to 3 

 lbs. of calf meal made into a paste with 1 qt. of cold water, to which was 

 added 1 gal. of boiling water and fed at blood heat. 



[Prickly pear for cattle], F. Smith (Queensland Agr. Jour., n. ser., 6 (laid), 

 Nos. 4, pp. 239-244; 5, pp. 304-307). — This is the first and second progress 

 report of work on this subject at the prickly-pear feeding station at Wallum- 

 billa. 



In studying the comparative values of scrub and forest pear in stock feeding 

 no essential difference was found by analyses. That the animals selected one 

 in preference to another seemed due to the number and condition of the spines 

 borne and not to any difference in flavor or palatability. 



In maintenance feeding prickly-pear feeding alone does not suffice but is 

 more efficient with a medium amount of nonnitrogenous roughage. Pear with 

 small amounts of nitrogenous concentrates or leguminous hay conserves weight 

 and permits small gains. With supplementary feeds the animals will eat more 

 of the pear than when on a feed of it alone. The amount of pear consumed de- 

 pends largely upon the individuality of the animal. In minimum amounts 

 nitrogenous feeds added to the ration will cause a longer consumption of pear 

 than nonnitrogenous. Too large a use of supplementary feeds will cause a 

 lessened consumption of pear. 



Slicing pear to make it acceptable to the animals is preferred to singeing. 

 Under the methods employed at the station one man can handle and distribute 

 pear for from 50 to 60 head of cattle per day. In five months of feeding no 

 animal showed any trouble from eating pear prepared in this way. Scouring 

 was not pronounced except in cases where pear was fed alone or in amounts in 

 the ration of over 90 lbs. daily. 



Future work in feeding pear is outlined. See also the articles previously 

 noted (E. S. R., 38, pp. 571, 572). 



■Wool price calculator (Canada Dept. Agr., Live Stock Branch Pamphlet 13 

 (1916), pp. 71). — A calculating device is described. 



Age affects rate and economy of gains in hog's (Mo. Bui. Ohio Sta., S 

 (1918), No. 1, p. 29). — In the first experiment the pigs, shortly after weaning 

 time, were placed on a ration of corn, middlings, and tankage (10:4:1), and 

 in the second a ration of corn and tankage was fed. The corn and tankage 

 was fed in the proportion of 8 : 1 at first, the corn being increased one-fourth 

 part weekly for 24 weeks, after which the ratio remained constant. 



