ANIMAL PRODUCTION. 



395 



"In buying feeds to supplement his home-grown supply, the dairyman's aim sin mid 

 be to secure digestible and palatable protein on the most economical terms. A very 

 large proportion of the different brands examined do not meet this requirement. 

 The study of the guarantees and the composition of the various feeds . . . is there- 

 fore of great value. 



"The quality of the manure made depends to a great extent on the kinds of feeds 

 used, and a judicious selection will result in a great improvement in this direction." 



The feeding- value of the residue obtained in the manufacture of alcohol 

 from maize, C. Montanari (Staz. Sper. Agr. Jtal, 36 {1903), No. 8-9, pp. 751-755).— 

 Analytical data are reported and discussed. 



Disembittering lupines with limewater, P. Soltsien (Chem. Ztg., .?<? (1904), 

 No. 76, p. 889). — A note on the effect of temperature on the results obtained in dis- 

 embittering lupines with limewater. Better results were obtained with warm than 

 with cold water. The author also speaks of the use of magnesia water for this 

 purpose. 



Digestion experiments with sheep, J. B. Lindsey | Massachusetts Sta. Rpt. 1903, 

 2>p. 63-79). — Digestion experiments with sheep are reported, each covering 14 days, 

 of which the first 7 were regarded as preliminary. The various feeding stuffs were 

 fed with meadow hay, the digestibility of the special materials being calculated in 

 the usual way. A summary of the work follows: 



Coefficients of digestibility of feeding st luffs — Experiments with sheep. 



Ration. 



Hay, largely Kentucky blue grass, aver- 

 age 3 sheep 



Apple pomace, average 3 sheep 



Biies distillers' grains, average 3 sheep.. 



Merchants distillers' grains, average 3 

 sheep 



Dried brewers' grains, average 3 sheep.. 



Malt sprouts, 1 sheep 



Soy-bean meal, average 2 sheep 



Hominy meal, 1 sheep 



Dry mat- 

 ter. 



Per cent. 

 63.84 



72.51 

 73.01 

 79.12 



61.40 



78.01 

 91.39 

 90.80 



Protein. 



Per cent. 

 62. 53 



70.59 

 71.68 



82. 33 

 76.39 

 91.07 

 74.03 



Per cent. 

 53.74 



47.22 

 95. 39 

 96.51 



88.24 

 60.31 

 93.51 



88.95 



Nitrogen- 

 free 

 extract. 



Per cent. 

 66.08 



70.43 

 80.09 



55.74 

 77.78 

 91.17 

 94.18 



Crude 

 fiber. 



Per cent. 

 66.62 



61.57 



77. 24 

 88.83 



46.83 

 102. 50 

 140. 03 

 126. 55 



Ash. 



Per cent. 

 44.73 



43.32 

 34.67 



Among the conclusions drawn from these tests were the following: "The [apple] 

 pomace contained fully as much digestible matter as silage made from the smaller 

 varieties of corn. Whether, per unit of dry matter, it is as valuable a feed as corn 

 silage is rather uncertain. This point will be ascertained later. . . . 



"The fiber [of dried distillers' grains] showed marked variations in digestibility, in 

 common with all feeds of similar character. While it has been generally held that 

 nitrogenous feed stuffs do not affect the normal digestibility of the coarse fodders 

 they supplement, it certainly seems reasonable to conclude that the addition of 200 

 to 250 gm. of the distillers' grains to the hay ration, giving a nutritive ratio of 1:4, 

 has resulted in increasing the digestibility of the fiber in hay; which accounts, in 

 the majority of cases, for the apparently very high digestion coefficients obtained. 

 Admitting this to be the case, the fact still remains that, while the digestion coeffi- 

 cient for the fiber is rather of an uncertain quantity, it must be regarded as rela- 

 tively high. . . . 



"Attention is called to the fact that the higher the digestion coefficients obtained 

 for the fiber, the higher are those obtained for the extract. This is undoubtedly due 

 to the intimate chemical and physiological relations known to exist between these 

 two fodder groups. . . . 



"It is evident, from all trials thus far made, that the protein and fat [of soy-bean 

 meal], comprising from 50 to (30 per cent of the bean, is very fully digested. 



