396 EXPERIMENT STATION RECORD. 



Whether the high digestibility of the fiber and extract in the present experiment ia 

 due to the variety of the bean, or is a peculiarity of the sheep employed, will l>e 

 determined by further tests. . . . 



"The addition to the hay of even a carbohydrate feed, such as hominy, seemed to 

 have increased the digestibility of the fiber in the hay, judging from the coefficients 

 obtained for the hominy fiber." 



The origin of the hippuricacidproducedbyherbivora, T. Pfeiffek, R. Riecke, 

 and C. Bloch (Mitt. I/indw. Just. A". Univ. Breslau, 2 (1904), No. 4, pp. 695-728).— 

 From a large number of experiments with sheep general conclusions were drawn, 

 including among others the following: The addition of easily digested carbohydrates 

 to a ration producinga large amount of hippuric acid diminished its production some- 

 what. Increasing the amount of digestible proteid consumed slightly increased the 

 excretion of hippuric acid. Xo relation was found between the putrefactive fermen- 

 tation of proteid and the production of hippuric acid. 



Aleuronat and ground beans were concerned in the formation of hippuric acid not 

 alone on account of their high protein content, but because they must contain the 

 mother substance of this acid. Increasing the alkalinity of the urine by giving sodium 

 acetate had no influence upon the excretion of hippuric acid. Clover hay, which is 

 considered as a fair representative of the leguminos*, contains only a small amount 

 of the hippuric acid mother substance, and that present is in a very indigestible form. 



Contrary results were noted with meadow hay. The greater part of the hippuric 

 acid yielding substance in meadow hay is soluble in hot water. Arabinose, selected 

 as a representative of the pentosans, had no effect on the formation of hippuric acid, 

 but coniferin, a representative aromatic constituent, exerted an influence. The crude 

 fiber of the different feeding stuffs contained a part of the hippuric acid producing 

 substance and in this respect marked differences were noted between clover hay and 

 meadow hay. In the case of the former the digestible crude fiber was principally 

 concerned in the hippuric acid formation, while with the latter this was not the case. 



Raising dairy calves without milk, J. B. Lindsey (Massachusetts Sta. Upt. 1903, 

 pp. 80-86). — A homemade mixture of wheat flour, cocoanut meal, nutrium, linseed 

 meal, and blood meal, recommended by Hay ward of the Pennsylvania Station (E. 

 S. R., 14, p. 479), was compared with Blatchford's calf meal as a feeding stuff for 

 calves. In general the meals tested were gradually substituted for milk. 



Two calves fed the homemade mixture weighed, respectively, 310 and 260 lbs. at 

 the close of the trial, having gained 1.4 and 1.1 lbs. per day. The first of these 

 calves was 6 months old and the other 5j months old, and they were receiving 3 lbs. 

 and 2 lbs. of the meal daily at the close of the test. Another calf was fed the commer- 

 cial feeding stuff under much the same conditions. When Ah months old it weighed 

 251 lbs. During the last 42 days of the test no feed was eaten except the calf meal, 

 the average daily gain during this period being 1.15 lbs. 



The author's principal conclusions were in effect as follows: The commercial calf 

 meal is hardly as satisfactory as the Hayward mixture during the first 3 months of 

 the calf's life, and it will probably prove necessary to feed one-third skim or whole 

 milk and two-thirds meal during this period. Mixed with hot water 1:6 and fed at 

 first with skim milk, it proved quite satisfactory in the present single trial. It is 

 possible that delicate calves would not thrive as well upon the meal as the one in the 

 present trial. The commercial calf meal was in good mechanical condition and can 

 not be considered especially expensive. 



A comparative test in feeding calves, H. P. Siter (Agr. Gaz. New South Wales, 

 15 (1904), No. 5, )>\>. 489-491). — Four calves, fed a ration of cod-liver oil and skim 

 milk in the proportion of 2 oz. to 3 gal., gained 1.42 lbs. per day at a cost of 2.88 etc 

 per pound during the 6 weeks covered by the test, as compared with a gain of 0.94 

 lb. per day at a cost of 4.06 cts. per pound on a ration of copra cake or cocoanut-oil 

 cake soaked in water and boiled with pollard, molasses, and water for half an hour 



