1916] ANIMAL PRODUCTION. 67 



Exposure to the air darkens the silage. In clianging the feed from roots to 

 silage some care should be taken to accustom the cows to it gradually; later, 

 good milch cows may be given 12 kg. a day, and ordinary and young animals 

 6 kg. 



Cattle form^s found in the environs of Borssum in the Duchy of Bruns- 

 wick, L. Knoop (Laudw. Jahrb., 48 {1915), No. 5, pp. 791-80S, figs. 6).— This 

 is a report of a stuily made of the skeletal measurements, dentition, and gen- 

 eral conformation of the remains of certain prehistoric types of cattle found in 

 the Duchy of Brunswick, Germany. 



Color in cattle, W. Graham (Live Stock Jour. [London], S3 (1916), No. 2188, 

 pp. 177, 178). — A general discussion of the physiological aspects of color in 

 cattle. 



Are sheep profitable in Maine? G. D. Woous (Maine Sta. Bui. 2Jf6 {1916), 

 pp. 30-36). — Tills is an account of the expenditures incident to the care and 

 management of an ordinary farm tlock of grade Hampshire sheep consisting of 

 75 ewes, 55 lambs, and 3 bucks, for one year under Maine conditions. The cost 

 of operation for the year was $1,306.63. The sales and inventory aggregated 

 $1,048.67. The total loss without any consideration of overhead charges, de- 

 preciation of plant, rent of land, interest on investment, or taxes that a farmer 

 would pay, was $257.76, or about $3.45 for each of the old ewes. 



Sheep feeding- trials at Williston Substation, W. H. Peters and C. H. 

 RuzicKA {North Dakota Sta. Bui. 115 {1916), pp. 301-316, figs. 13).— Two lots of 

 range-grown Hampshire grade lambs were fed during the winter of 1914 for 103 

 days. Lot 1 of 50 lambs received no feed except good alfalfa hay, all they would 

 eat ; lot 2 of 220 lambs, alfalfa hay and a light grain ration composed of elevator 

 screenings for the first one-third of the period and corn and barley for the 

 remaining two-thirds of the time. The feeding of grain in addition to alfalfa 

 hay practically doubled the gains for the entire period. The feeding of grain 

 with the alfalfa increased the margin between the purchase price plus feed 

 cost and the selling price from $1.21 for the alfalfa Iambs to $1.76 for the 

 alfalfa and grain lambs, or a difference of 55 cts. per head in favor of the 

 grain feeding. The dressing percentage on the alfalfa and grain fed lambs 

 was 53.1 per cent, and on the alfalfa-fed lot 50.3 per cent. 



In a second trial a single lot of 210 lambs was fed during the fall, instead of 

 the winter as in the first trial, for 75 days. They were allowed to run in a 

 corn patch and later were turned into stubble fields, receiving in addition a 

 light feed of alfalfa hay and a little grain. In November they were taken off 

 the stubble and fed for a month a heavy grain feed consisting mainly of barley 

 together with some refuse grain and soft corn. These lambs made an average 

 daily gain per head of 0.29 lb. and realized a profit of $1.72 per head. The 

 grazing on corn and stubble proved successful and aided considerably in keep- 

 ing down the cost of grain for the entire feeding period. Thirty-five days of 

 hay and grain feeding at the close of the stubble season was sufficient to put 

 the lambs on the market as choice butcher lambs in good killing condition. 



In comparing the gain made by small and large lambs it was found that the 

 former made the greater percentage increase by 10.17 per cent. However, 

 when placed on the market the 15 large lambs sold at 8.65 cts. per pound and 

 the 15 small ones at 8 cts. This fact would indicate that the small lambs, if 

 one were buying a carload of them, would have to be bought at a lower price 

 per pound than the large ones if as much profit were to be made in feeding 

 them. In this trial it would have been necessary to purchase them at least 

 0.6 to 0.75 ct. per pound cheaper. 



Suffolk sheep and what they mean {Live Stock Jour. [London], 83 {1916), 

 No. 2188, p. 179). — A study of the breed characteristics and utility value of the 



