HOT) EXPERIMENT STATION RECORD. 



Experiments on the possibility of removing the jjoisonous material l)y extraction 

 with hot or cold water are brietiy reported, which led to the following deduction: 

 "While the cassava root in its natural state contains a highly dangerous amount of 

 hydrocyanic acid, yet by treatment of the cut-up material with water, it can })e 

 rendered quite safe for food purposes. As a practical suggestion, it is advised that 

 the cassava roots, if used at all, should be cut up into pieces and boiled in the same 

 manner as potatoes are boiled for pig feed, the greatest care being taken that the 

 water shall be completely removed, and the material further washed out with addi- 

 tional water. Concerning the actual amount of hydrocyanic acid found in cassava 

 root by different scientists and in different countries, the indications are very strong 

 that the controlling factors will be found to be the nature of the soil and climatic 

 conditions." 



Home produce v. purchased food, J. A. Voki.ckkr {Juur. Roy. Agr. Sue. 

 England, 63 {1902), pp. 330-338) .—ConWimmg earlier work (E. S. R., 8, p. 248) on 

 the value of home-grown and purchased feeding stuffs, a test was made with 2 lots, 

 each containing 8 cross-bred steers. After a i)reliminary feeding, each lot was fed 8 

 lbs. of grain per head daily in addition to 30 lbs. of roots, 4 lbs. hay, and 7.5 lbs. 

 straw chaff, the amounts being increased as the test progressed. In the case of the 

 home-grown products the grain ration consisted of ))eans, oats, and wheat, 7:5:4, 

 and in the case of purciiasi'd fee<ls it consisted of linseed cake, decorticated cotton- 

 seed cake, and maize meal in the same proportions. All the feeding stuffs used were 

 analyzed. 



Four steers in each lot were fed in stalls, the others in yards, the former averaging 

 1,319 lbs. in weight at the Ijeginning of the trial and the latter 1,449 lbs. The test 

 covered from 84 to 10(5 <lays, the different groups being sold for slaughter at different 

 times as they were ready. The steers fed home-grown products in stalls ma<le an 

 average daily gain jjcr head of 1.5 lbs., and those fed the same |)roducts in yards 

 1.93 lbs. In the case of tlie purchased feed, the average daily gain with the steers 

 fed in stalls was 1.98 lbs. and of those fed in yards 2.38 lbs. 



Data are also reported regarding the cost of feed and live and dressed weight. 

 The author calls attention to the fact that while smaller and more costly gains were 

 made on the home-grown products the meat produced was considered superior. 



[Gains made by steers on pasturage], Supplement to Bulletin No. 73, 

 II. \V. Mr.MFoui) ( lUiiioix Ski. ('ire. '!/, pp. 2). — The effect of previous feeding on 

 subsecjuent gains made on pasturage was studied witii 2 lots, each containing 25 

 yearling steers used in a test i)reviously reported ( E. S. R., 14, p. 381), on the com- 

 parative merits of corn silage and shock corn. In 175 days on l)hie grass pasturage 

 the steers formerly fed the silage ration made an average daily gain of 1.03 Da**, per 

 steer, and those formerly fed the shock corn an average gain of 1.2 lbs. Considering 

 both of the tests the average daily gain of the silage lot was 1.249 lbs. and of the 

 shock-corn lot 1.275 lbs. 



"This does not indicate anything except that up to this time neither ration pos- 

 sessed a marked ailvantage for securing rapid gains on calves and yearlings up to the 

 beginning of the finishing i)eriod. . . . The silage-fed steers have apparently larger 

 frames, and largely ou this account do not apjiear to carry as much flesh as the shock- 

 corn-fed steers." 



Feeds supplementary to corn for fattening- steers, II. W. Mumford {Illhiois 

 Sta. Bui. 83, pp. 541-576). — The value of a corn ration supplemented by gluten meal 

 and by clover hay was studied, the former feed being chosen because it is a corn 

 product and its use is consequently of importance to corn growers, and the lattei 

 because it is believed that the po.ssiliilities of nitrogenous coarse fodders are not gen- 

 erally recognized. 



Three lots of common to medium (juality steers were selected, lot 1 l)eing fed corn 

 and clover hay, lot 2 corn, timothy hay, and corn stover, and lot 3 the same feeding 



