ANIMAL PRODUCTION. 167 



as time goes on and the animal gets ripe. Kelluer's starch equivalents, too, 

 fail when very liberal diets are usetl, because here the animal very quickly 

 reaches that stage of fatness at which the law of diminishing return begins to 

 make itself felt." 



The authors propose the drawing up of a sliding scale for the utilization of 

 starch equivalents varying with the conditions which have been shown to influ- 

 ence the utilization of the diet. In a consideration of the standard deviation 

 in results obtained with individual animals it is shown that " the amount of 

 variation in efficiency as fat-producing machines among animals of the same 

 breed fed under identical conditions is remarkable." 



The forage plants of German Southwest Africa, W. Heeking and C. 

 Grimme (Arb. Deiit. Landw. GcsclL, No. 262 {WW, PP- VIII+106, pis. 40).— 

 Analyses and digestion coefficients of the following species of grasses and forage 

 plants are reported: Andropogoii contortus, A. nardus, A. paiiiUoms, A. ischce- 

 mum, Anthcphora hochstetteri, A. pubcsce)is, Trayus racemosus, I'anicum colora- 

 tum, P. maximum, P. nigropcdatum; P. notabile, P. trichopus, TrichoUena drcgc- 

 ana, T. madagascariensis, Setaria vcrtioillata, Pennisetum ciliare, Aristida 

 alopecuroides, A. barbicollis, A. ciliata, A. congesta, A. namaquensis, A. obtusa, 

 A. stipoides, A. uniplumis, Sporobolus indicus, 8. nebulosus, Cynodon dactylon, 

 Chloris virgata, Dactyloctenium wgyptiacum, Pappophorum abyssinicum, P. cen- 

 chroides, P. scabrum, Schmidtia pappophoroides, S. quinqiieseta, Pogonarthria 

 fleckii, Triraphis ranwsissima, Diphachne fusca, Fingerliuthia africana, Era- 

 grostis denndata, E. echinochloidea, E. Icevissima, E. porosa, E. superba, E. 

 tricJiophora, Cyperus Msitatus, EyUingia alba, Asparagus asiaticus, Osyris abys- 

 sinica, Atriplex vesicaria, Kochia salsoloides, Salsola aphylla, Leucospliwra 

 bainesii, Cyathula hereroensis, Boerhavia pentandra, PlicEoptilon spinosum, 

 Amsostigma schenekli, Mesembrianthemiim rupicola, Polanisia lilderUziana, 

 Cleome rubella, Boscia foetida, B. pechuelvi, Cadaba juncea, Kalanchoe panicu- 

 lata, Albizzia anthclmintica. Acacia albida, A. giraffw, A. hebcclada, A. herero- 

 ensis, A. horrida, A. maras, Parkinsonia africana, Peltopliorum africanum, 

 Crotalaria) diversistipula, Tephrosia purpurea, Bliynchosia gibba, R. toita, 

 Zygophyllum afflne microcarptun, Tribulus terrestris, Commiphora africana, 

 Aitonia capensis microphylla, Flueggea obovata, Croton gratissimus, Cephalocro- 

 ton piischelU, Heeria mucronata, Rhus albomarginata, R. ciliata, Zizyphxis mu- 

 cronatus, Helinus ovatus, Grewia bicolor, G. olulcondw, Eennannia afflnis ienella, 

 Tamarix usneoides, Combretum hereroense, C. primigenium, Roycna pallens, 

 Ehretia hottentotica, Bouchea pinnatifida, Leucas pechuelvi, Solanum incanum, 

 Aptosimum albomarginatum, Rhigozum triehotomum, Catophractcs alexandri, 

 Petalidimn linifolium, P. physaloides, Blepharis edulis, Cucumis prophetarum, 

 CitruUus vulgaris, NiiJorclla auriculata, Tarchonanthus camphoratus, Dicoma 

 anomala, Garuleum bipinnatum. 



Feeding value of various grasses, A. Gregoire and E. Carpiaux {Min. Agr. 

 ct Trav. Pub. [Belgium], Off. Rural Raps, et Communs., No. 8 {191.'f), pp. 

 5-Jf8). — In sheep feeding experiments to determine the digestibility of hays of 

 various grasses it was found that there was a general decrease in the digesti- 

 bility of the hay as the grass reached maturity, but the amount of decrease 

 varied considerably with the different species. The content of protein and fat 

 showed the greatest variation. 



The actual feeding value of these hays was found to vary considerably from 

 the Kellner standard. The addition of calcium carbonate to the ratioji exerted 

 no influence on the digestibility, but appeared to have an influence on the utiliza- 

 tion of the absorbed elements. A ration composed entirely of hay increased the 

 losses of phosphoric acid and lime to the animal organism, esi>ecially when the 



