ANIMAL PKODUCTION. 689 



tlic i-ner^ry value <if urine 32.3 calories should l)e allowed for eacli trraiii of nitrogen 

 j)r('scnt in tlie fresh material. 



A nuniher of experiments were made in which the body of a sheep was inclosed 

 in an air-tight box. The head jirotruded through an aperture, a loss of air being pre- 

 vented by a large piece of rul)ber which iitted tightly around tlie neck and was 

 attached to the box. Analyses of a current of air drawn through the box led the 

 author to conclude that the amount of carbon dioxitl excreted otherwise than in the 

 respiratory products was very small, averaging about 0.02 of the total amount 

 excreted per day from the lungs. Determinations of the methan in the ventilating 

 current led to the deduction that "the amount of methan obtained as an excretion 

 of the skin and intestines was small, amounting to about 2 gm. of methan per day." 



Attempts to determine the amount of methan formed in the paunch wen; made 

 with a sheep having a silver tube inserted in the trachea, through which gaseous 

 products could 1)6 collected for analysis. The results obtained are not regarded 1 ly 

 the author as satisfactory. 



Lamb-feeding experiments, 1900-1902, B. C. Buffum and C. J. (iKiFFinr 

 {('ii/orddu Sla. Bui. 7o, jrp. 36, pi. ], ji(j>^. 5). — Three tests with land)s are re])ortKl. 

 In the first, which covered 84 days, 4 lots of 5 Mexican ]aml)s averaging 55 lb-. 

 each were used. All were fed alfalfa hay ad libitum, lots 1 and 2 receiving sugar- 

 beet pulp in addition, and lots 3 and 4 sugar beets. All the lambs were fed some corn 

 until they became accustomed to the beet ration, and during the last 8 weeks of the 

 test a mixture of wheat and barley, 1:1, replaced the pulp or beets in the ration of 

 lots 2 and 4. Lot 1 (beet pulp) gained 76 lbs., lot 2 (beet pulp and grain) 94 lbs., 

 lot 3 (sugar beets) 10(3 lbs., and lot 4 (sugar beets and grain) 121 11)S. Lots 1 and 3 

 each gained 16 lbs. in iieece and lots 2 and 4 gained 17 lbs. The average cost of a 

 pound of gain in the 4 lots was 2.83, 4.65, 4.16, and 4.87 cts., respectively. At the 

 close of the test the laml)s were slaughtered. The dressed weight of lots 1 and 2 

 was 45.1 and 48.1 per cent and of lots 3 and 4 it was 46.6 per cent of the live weiglit, 

 respectively. The greatest }>rofit, $3.40, was realized with lot 1 (beet pulp), the 

 lowest, |2.17, with lot 2 (beet pulp and grain), the amounts for lots 3 and 4 being 

 respectively |2.88 and $2.23. 



Another lot of 5 Mexican lam))s, which was fed a ration of l)eets and grain with 

 straw instead of alfalfa, gained so little that it is not compared with the others and 

 no values are reported. 



The principal conclusions drawn from the test follow: 



"Beet pulp is a valual)le roughage to feed with alfalfa, and we believe would be 

 especially valuable to use during the first part of a feeding i)eriod. Pulp-fed mutton 

 had good flavor, but was not very fat. 



' ' Beet pulp which does not cost the feeder more than $1.50 per ton at his yards, will 

 give a return sufficiently large to pay for using it in a ration, but we would not recom- 

 mend letting lambs eat so much of it during the finishing period that they will not 

 consume good rations of hay and grain. 



"Sugar beets did not ])rove to have a high feeding value for lanil)s. It is doul)tful 

 if farmers can afford to feed beets to lambs if they can sell them to a factory at $4.50 

 per ton, and the conditions must be favorable to make beets give a return sufficiently 

 large to pay for raising them. Two pounds of sugar beets were equal to al)out one 

 pound of pulp. Sugar beets and poor kinds of roughage can not be made to take the 

 place of alfalfa hay." 



The purpose of the second test was a comparison of home-grown grains with corn. 

 Five lots of Mexican lambs, like those in the above test, were used, the lots being num- 

 bered 5 to 9, inclusive. They were all fed alfalfa hay ad libitum, and in addition lot 

 5 was fed corn, lot 6 spelt, lot 7 barley, lot 8 wheat and barley 1:1, and lot 9 wheat 

 and spelt 1:1. With lots 5, 6, and 7 the feeding was continued for 90 days an<l with lots 

 S and 9 for 95 days. The total gains in flesh in the 5 lots were 113, 127, 97, 117, and 



