70 EXPERIMENT STATION EECORD. [Vol.43 



crossefl with Ldncoln, Cotswold, and Leicester ewes. Tlie wool of the young 

 cros.s-bred lambs is black, and in many cases has the desired curl. 



The need for improved methods in handling sheepskins, J. W. Mathews 

 (Agr. Gas. N. S. Wales, 31 (1920), Xo. 2, pp. 94-98}.— The author reports the 

 valuations placed by fellmongers on country sheepskins dried in five ways 

 imder experimental conditions. 



Skins drie<l in the sun wt're iniiformly inferior to those dried under shelter 

 without exposure to direct siuilight, and both classes were improved by paint- 

 ing the dried skins with a solution of sodium arsenate. Skins salted and cured 

 inmiediately after flaying yielded the highest priced pelts, but the wool was so 

 much impaired that the method is not recommended. 



Preliminary report on (1) comparison of feeds for fattening hogs, (2) 

 comparison of methods of preparation of barley for hog feed, C. P. Thomp- 

 son {OJdahoiiia Sta. Rpt. 1919, pp. 27-33). — Two separate experiments are 

 reported. 



(1) Five lots of eight 140-lb. hogs (Duroc Jersey, Poland China, and cross- 

 breds) were fed for 40 days beginning November 1, 1918. One lot received only 

 table garbage and the others grain mixtures. The garbage-fed lot made the best 

 daily gain (1.86 lbs. per head) and with a charge for garbage of 21 cts. per 

 hundredweight was over four times as profitable as any other lot. The mixtures 

 given the grain-fed lots (all grain ground) and the amounts of feed required 

 for a pound of gain were as follows: Corn and tankage (12:1), 4.2 lbs.; corn, 

 barley and tankage (6:6:1), 4.4 lbs.; barley and tankage (12:1) 5 lbs.; oats 

 and tankage (16:1), 6.7 lbs. The average daily gains were, respectively, 1.82, 

 1.73, 1.48, and 1.34 lbs. per hog. Barley being cheaper than corn, the corn and 

 barley mixture was slightly more profttal)le than the coi'u mixture. 



(2) Three lots of five 90-lb. Duroc Jersey hogs were fed on barley (variously 

 prepared) and tankage (12:1) for 70 days, and two similar lots were given 

 fi-ee choice of barley and tankage in a self-feeder at the same time. Whole 

 barley, dry, produced the same gain, whether self-fed or not, viz, 1.1 His. per 

 head daily, and the self-fed lot consumed the same amount of barley and al- 

 most the same amount of tankage as the hand-fed lot. These two lots required 

 4.7 lbs. of grain for a pound of gain. Whole barley soaked and hand fed pro- 

 duced somewhat greater gains, but 5.1 lbs. of feed were required for a pound 

 of gain and the lot thus fed yielded the least profit. Ground barley when hand- 

 fed (moist) produced a daily gain of 1.27 lbs. per head, the highest observed, 

 and when self-fed (dry) produced a gain of 1.19 lbs., the next highest; in both 

 cases about 4.4 lbs. of feed were required for a pound of gain. The two lots 

 receiving the ground grain were the most profitable ones fed, the self-fed lot 

 ranking first. 



The algaroba bean as a feed for hogs, L. A. Henke (Col. Haivaii Bui. 5 

 (1918), pp. 17-20). — The meal made by grinding the pods (and beans) of the 

 algaroba tree (Prosopis juli flora) was fed to five 25-lb. pigs out of the same 

 litter. It was mixed in equal parts with wheat middlings when fed to three of 

 the pigs and with rice bran when fed to the others. Linseed meal formed 4 per 

 cent of the rations and salt 2 per cent. Green alfalfa or alfalfa pasture fur- 

 nished the roughage, and the test lasted seven months. 



The pigs fed the middlings mixture made an average daily gain of 0.45 lb. 

 per head, and aside from alfalfa consumed 8.97 lbs. of feed per pound of gain. 

 Those fed the rice bran mixture gained at th-e rate of 0.39 lb. a day, and re- 

 quired 5.2 lbs. of grain per pound of gain. Although the rice bran cost about 

 $20 less per ton than the middlings, it was not so economical a feed. 



A third lot of three, litter mates to the others, were given cracked corn, 

 wheat middlings, and rolled oats (1;1:1) plus linseed meal and salt. The 



