DAIRY FARMING DAIRYING. 983 



tions are made to them — the 'foundation stock' upon which our breedinj^ operations 

 are based. Males for our use have been raised from them (hiring the last 2 years. 

 The number of the foundation stock, now secured, makes practicable the avoidance 

 of inbreeding, and this is to 1)e strictly guarded against, as it is doubtful if the inbred 

 hen has sufficient constitution to cnaljlc her to stand tiic demands of heavy egg 

 production." 



As the author notes, the tests have not continued long enough for final deductions. 



Poultry raising on the farm, D. E. S.\lmon ( U. S. Dept. Agr., Farmers' Bui. 141, 

 j>j>. 16, figs. 31). — Breeds of poultry and poultry raising are discussed, especial atten- 

 tion being paid to poultry houses, coops, feeding troughs, drinking fountains, and 

 related topics. 



Experiments on feeding- chickens when bacteria are excluded and on the 

 value of the intestinal bacteria, Schottelu-s (Ztsrhr. I'niersudi. Xahr. u. (ieid'ss- 

 tiitl., 4 {1901), Xo. ^4, pp- 116-5, 1166). — In a paper presented at the seventy-third 

 meeting of German Naturalists and Physicians at Hamljurg, September, 1901, the 

 author reported experiments with chickens hatched and fed in such a way that bac- 

 teria were excluded. The chickens ate readily and apparently digested their food 

 normall}', yet they did not gain in weight and died after about 20 days. Tests 

 showed that the feces were free from bacteria. At the end of the same period, chick- 

 ens fed normally weighed about 3 times as much as at the beginning. When the 

 chickens fed under sterile conditions were inoculated with intestinal bacteria from 

 normal chickens, they became strong and gained in weight. 



DAIEY FARMING -DAIRYING. 



A study of rations fed to milch cows in Connecticut, C. S. Phelps (Connec- 

 ticut Starrs Sta. Rpt. 1900, ]>p. l.JO-157). — This study began in 1892 and has been con- 

 tinued to the present time. The results for 1892 to 1897 were presented at length in 

 a jirevious report of the station (E. S. R., 10, p. 681) and are here briefly summar- 

 ized. Preliminary experiments undertaken during the winters of 1897-98 and 

 1898-99 to study the value of rations based upon milk yields have not been reported. 

 In the experiments during the winter of 1899-1900, of which a detailed account is 

 given, the effect of feeding according to the yield of butter fat w^as studied with 4 

 private herds of 8 to 18 cows each. 



"Two tests were made with each herd, covering periods of 11 or 12 days. In the 

 first test the entire herd was fed a ration which was essentially the same for each 

 cow; while in the second test the ration was varied according to the yields of butter 

 fat. Two grain mixtures were used in the second test. The first, together with the 

 coarse fodder used, was called a basal ration, which was planned to contain not far 

 from 2 lbs. of digestible protein daily. The actual amounts of digestible protein in 

 the basal ration varied from 1.80 to 2.30 lbs. The second grain mixture was called 

 a protein mixture. It was usually composed of the feeding stuffs which the farmer 

 was using, combined in such proportions as to furnish approximatel)^ 0.3 of a pound 

 •of digestiljle protein for each pound of the mixture. 



"The plan of feeding in the second test was to use the ba.«al ration for all the cows 

 in the test, and to add to this varying quantities of the ])rotein mixture according to 

 the yields of butter fat, as shown by the results of the first test. Those cows pro- 

 ducing from 0.50 to 0.65 lb. of butter fat in the first test received the basal ration 

 only; those producing from 0.66 to 0.80 lb. of butter fat received 1 lb. of the pro- 

 tein mixture in addition to the basal ration; those producing from 0.81 to 0.95 lb. 

 of butter fat received 2 lbs. of the protein mixture in addition to the basal ration; 

 while those producing 0.96 to 1.10 lbs. of butter fat received 3 lbs. of the protein 

 mixture in addition to the basal ration." 



