1916] ANIMAL PRODUCTION. 769 



sourness, but kept at it until they had eaten it all, appearing to enjoy its 

 succuleney. On a second trial, three days later, the same animals ate it with 

 great relish. Only one sample of those tried, a rape-molasses mixture, was 

 refused by the animals. 



It is thought that those mixtures containing fibrous material, such as sorghum 

 cane, Sudan grass, timothy, and the corn plant, would be useful for cattle, but 

 would not be as good feed for swine as pure rape silage, or the alfalfa, red 

 clover, potato, or corn-grain mixtures. The mixtures of rape with legumes are 

 deemed perhaps best from the standpoint of feeding as well as that of the 

 quality of the silage. The rape improves the mixture, in that it supplies the 

 necessary fermentable carbohydrates, which apparently are deficient in amount 

 in the legume. 



Chemical examination of the samples showed the acidity and alcohol content 

 to be comparable in most cases to that of corn silage. 



A contribution to tlie bacteriology of silag'e, J. M. Shekman {Jcmr. Bact., 

 1 (1916), No. 4, pp. 445-452). — The data presented in this paper suggest the 

 probable importance of a group of acid-tolerant, acid-producing bacilli in the 

 curing of corn silage. The organism concerned, while closely related to the 

 Bacillus bulgaricus group of milk and the B. acidophilus group of the intestines, 

 appears to differ somewhat from the typical members of these groups, notably 

 by its comparatively abundant growth on ordinary laboratory media. The 

 microscopic examination of silage juice demonstrates the presence of immense 

 numbers of bacterial cells (always over one billion per cubic centimeter), most 

 of which are baciUi which resemble morphologically the high acid-producing 

 bacilli described. The aciduric bacilli of silage are constantly found in quite 

 large numbers on com fodder, so that silage made from corn is always amply 

 seeded with these organisms. 



Fish meal: Its use as a stock and poultry food, F. C. Webee (77. 8. Dept 

 Agr. Bui. 378 {1916), pp. 21). — The author notes the earlier use of fish meal 

 as a feeding stuff in the United States and gives rather full abstracts of the more 

 important literature pertaining to its use in this country and in other countries. 



With proper attention to sanitary considerations in the processes, it is said 

 that the undried fish residues may be made into fish meal for feeding purposes. 

 The meal containing less than 10 per cent moisture will keep a very long time 

 without decomposition. 



During the season of 1914 a quantity' of fish meal was made in the course of 

 experiments upon the utilization as a stock food of the waste in the sardine 

 industry on the coast of Maine. With the equipment used a yield of from 27 to 

 33 per cent of meal was obtained from the fish residue, and from raw material 

 containing from 12 to 17 per cent of oil, over one-half the oil was removed by 

 pressing. The oil obtained was bright, clear, and of a very high quality. After 

 being stored in a bam at Eastport, Me., for two or three months and then shipped 

 to Washington, D. C, for use in the feeding experiments reported in this bulle- 

 tin, this fish meal was found to contain water 4.74 per cent, protein (NX 6.25) 

 60.50, fat 14.56, crude fiber 0.61, ash 16.68, and salt (NaQ) 5.78. 



In feeding tests by the Dairy Division of the Bureau of Animal Industry, 

 dairy cows fed fish meal gave a greater yield of milk than those fed cotton-seed 

 meal. The total milk fat from the two groups was about the same. There was 

 some variation in the readiness with which the animals ate the ration containing 

 fish meal. The meal had no detrimental effect on either the milk or butter. 



Feeding experiments upon the value of fish meal for laying hens and for 

 growing and fattening pigs were conducted by the Animal Husbandry Division 

 of the Bureau of Animal Industry. In a comparison of fish meal with meat 

 jneal for laying hens, A. R. Lee reports that the lot fed the ration containing 



