FOODS ANIMAL PRODUCTION. 477 



as large gains as might have been expected. This is explained on the 

 ground of the inferior quality of the turnips and straw fed. The tur- 

 nips were not well matured and contained a high percentage of amid 

 nitrogen. The straw was not of an appetizing kind. 



"The results show that the market prices of the feeding stuffs used .ire not in 

 harmony with the feeding value — at least when consumed by cattle; that linseed 

 cake, which is the most popular of the feeding stuffs, is also the dearest; that a 

 mixture of decorticated cotton-cake meal and brewers' grains is more economical, and 

 that the barley bran is more economical still. 



"As regards the quality of the fodder as shown by the nutritive ratio, the experi- 

 ments show that in this case both the very narrow ratio and the wide one were not 

 economical, that the moderate ratios did hest, but that within a moderate range 

 there seems to be no absolute agreement between nutritive ratio and feeding pro- 

 gress. . . . It does not seem that the ratio most advantageous for feeding progress is 

 capable of being so exactly defined as has heen customarily taught from the results 

 of feeding experiments conducted on the Continent." 



Feeding experiments with sheep conducted at Ferney Castle 

 and at Whitelaw, 1896, A. P. Aitken (Trans. Highland and Agr. Soc. 

 Scotland, 5. ser.j 9 (1897), pp. 181-188). — The author reports experiments 

 made with sheep at these two places to compare a number of concen- 

 trated feeding stuffs. It was the intention to make experiments with 

 sheep under practically the same conditions as those reported above 

 with cattle. Each investigator experimented with 4 lots of 10 wethers 

 each. The test made at Ferney Castle lasted CO days and that at 

 Whitelaw 35 days. All the sheep were fed a basal ration of hay and 

 turnips ad libitum, but they consumed only small quantities of hay. 

 In addition lot 1 received 5j£ lbs. of dried brewers' grains and 3f lbs. of 

 ground decorticated cotton-seed cake, lot 2 2§ lbs. of ground linseed 

 cake, lot 3 11^ lbs. of dried brewers' grains, and lot 4 4^ lbs. of ground 

 corn and 4 lbs. of crushed oats. It was the intention to feed lot 3 

 barley bran, but the sheep refused to eat it, and dried brewers' grains 

 were substituted. 



At the close of the test the sheep were slaughtered. Analyses are 

 given of the feeding stuffs used and the amounts of food consumed, the 

 increase in live weight, the weights of the carcasses for each lot, and 

 the tallow and wool from the lots fed at Whitelaw are recorded. The 

 average gains in weight for the different lots were as follows: At Fer- 

 ney Castle— lot 1 22 lbs., lot 2 22 lbs., lot 3 17.1 lbs., lot 4 14 lbs.; at 

 Whitelaw— lot 1 10.3 lbs., lot 2 11.9 lbs., lot 3 14 lbs., lot 4 10.3 lbs. 



The dressed weight of the sheep was more uniform, varying from 

 59.1 lbs. to 02 lbs. in the Ferney Castle lots, and from 59 lbs. to 62.4 lbs. 

 in the Whitelaw lots. 



"The most that can safely be said about the utility of the feeding 

 stuffs is that, as tested by the sheep, there are no very marked differ- 

 ences observable." 



Comparison of the value of sweet and sour whey for fattening 

 hogs, G. E. Day (Ontario Agl. Col. and Expt. Farm Bpt. 1896, pp. 

 78-80). — Two tests were made to compare the relative value of sweet 



