AlHMAL PRODUCTION. 169 



" In tlie sons the tendency received from the father is stronger than that 

 coming from the mother, while in the daughters the opposite is true. When one 

 examines the descendants of animals whose fathers had a male tendency and 

 mothers a female tendency, a higher difference in the relative number of males 

 and females is found than from those cases in which the fathers alone had a 

 male tendency. . . . 



" Should one select males whose fathers had a female tendency and whose 

 mothers had a male tendency and mate these with females whose fathers had 

 a male tendency and whose mothers had a female tendency, a higher difference 

 in the relative number of males and females will be found in their descendants 

 than in any other possible case." 



This regulation in the inheritance of the sex tendency affords an explanation 

 of the manner in which the equilibrium is maintained between the number of 

 male and female offspring of a given species. 



A new era in the science of nutrition, R. L. Kahn (Sci. Amer. Sup., 79 

 {1915), No. 2046, pp. 182, 183).— A review of the work of Osborne and Mendel 

 on problems of animal nutrition. 



A chemical study of two drought-resisting forage plants, S. Lomanitz 

 (Jour. Indus, and Engin. Chem., 7 (1915), No. 3, p. 220). — Analyses of the two 

 drought-resisting plants CJiloris virgata and Phalaris nodosa, which have re- 

 cently been introduced into Mexico, are given as follows : Moisture 8.3 and 9.15, 

 protein 6.87 and 10.54, fat 1.64 and 2.66, nitrogen-free extract 43.-38 and 39.06, 

 fiber 28.42 and 25.82, and ash 11.39 and 12.77 per cent, respectively. It is 

 said that both plants are readily eaten by cattle without harmful effect upon 

 the milk. 



Feeding sugar-beet tops, F, Redlich (Osterr. Ungar. Ztschr. Zuckerindus. 

 u. Landw., J,3 (1914), No. 3, pp. 37.5-404, figs. 6; alts, in Chem. ZentU., 1914, II, 

 No. 5, pp. 4-^0, 431)- — The average analysis of fresh sugar-beet tops (from 

 September to November) is given as water 85.47. protein 1.69, fat 0.28, nitrogen- 

 free extract 7.81, fiber 1.53, ash 1.65, and sand 1.57 per cent. It is deemed 

 a desirable feed for ruminants, more especially milch cows. The beet tops 

 were found to contain from 0.11 to 0.42 per cent of oxalic acid, which is said 

 to have the effect of increasing the milk-fat yield without any unfavorable 

 influence on the milk yield. There was a decline in the lime content of the 

 milk, necessitating the feeding of phosphoric lime in quantities of from 40 to 

 60 gm. per day. A number of cows fed 43 days on the fresh material made an 

 average daily gain per head of 0.4 kg. in weight. 



A drying apparatus is described. 



Fish meal as a feedstuff (Jour. Bd. Agr. [London'\, 21 (1914), No. 8, pp. 

 689-692). — English experiments carried out with pigs at the Seale Hayne 

 College with fish meal are reported and seem to show that the addition of from 

 14 to 29 per cent of the meal to other feeds will lead to a marked increase in 

 the weight of the pigs so fed, as compared with those fed on a diet containing 

 no fish meal. 



It is sugge.sted that the following quantities might be given daily to the 

 different kinds of stock: Cattle, 2 lbs. per 1,000 lbs. live weight; pigs, i to 

 i lb., according to weight; sheep, A to i lb. per 100 lbs. live weight; poultry, 

 adult fowls should receive not more than 10 per cent and chickens not more 

 than 5 per cent of their whole diet in this form. Fish meal with low percentages 

 of oil and salt should be selected and the birds should be gradually accus- 

 tomed to the feed. The above quantities should in no case be given at once 

 but the fish meal should be introduced into the ration gradually. It Is im- 

 portant that decomposition should not have set in. 



