172 EXPERIMENT STATION RECORD. [Vol.43 



Two steers pastured on li acres of oats for 34 days made a daily ?ciiin of 2.5 

 lbs, each, which at 10 cts. per pound made the oat pasture worth $11.27 per 

 acre. On a similar basis Sudan grass pasture gave a value of $11,45 per 

 acre and furnished in addition 2,501 lbs. of hay per acre. When steers were fed 

 on Sudan grass hay their gain in weight represented a value of $7.36 per ton 

 of hay. Adverse seasonal conditions interfered to some extent with the ex- 

 periment, but the results are regarded as indicating that winter oats makes a 

 very satisfactory pasture crop for beef cattle. The utilization of Sudan grass 

 for pasture in view of the present prices of hay is thought questionable. 



Cattle feeding trials with rice meal, N. S. McGowan (Rpt. Dept. Agr. Bihar 

 and Orissa, 1917-18, pp. 8-13). — Rice meal, peas, and mustard oil cake (4:4:3) 

 was compared with oats and mustard oil cake (8:3) as a grain ration for 4 

 milch cows and 8 work oxen receiving durra fodder and mixed straw as rough- 

 age. During rice meal feeding the milk and butter fat yields of tlie cows and 

 the rate of growth of the oxen were slightly lower than w^hen oats Avere fed, 

 but this was more than compensated for by the lower feed costs. 



Some* fundamental factors that determine progress in farm sheep breed- 

 ing, E. G. RiTZMAN (Neiv Hampshire Sta. Tech. Bui. IJf {1919), pp. 3-21).— 

 This bulletin consists of a reprint of the author's paper on ewes' milk previ- 

 ously noted (E, S. R,, 36, p. 569), an excerpt of his paper on the gi'owth of 

 lambs (E. S. R., 38, p, 472), and unpublished material on multiple births, 

 growth, and forced feeding of lambs. The discussion emphasizes the im- 

 portance of the lamb crop in farm sheep breeding and the necessity of recog- 

 nizing the ewe as the productive unit. 



Growth data of lambs born singly and as twins are summarized. "A single 

 Iamb at birth is 24 per cent heavier than an average lamb born as twin. Dur- 

 ing the first 56 days (the period when ewes give the heaviest flow of milk 

 and lambs depend most on milk diet), the single lamb grows faster than a 

 twin which shares its milk with another, so that at the end of this period the 

 single weighs 30 per cent more than an average twin. At 84 days the single 

 weighs 25.0 per cent more than a twin. During this period lambs come to de- 

 pend to a much larger extent on feed other than milk so that twins have a 

 more nearly equal chan,ce with a single for an abundance of suitable food." 

 At 180 days a " single " weighs only 13.2 per cent more than an average twin, 

 while a pair of twins is 76.6 per cent heavier than a " single." 



A group of 133 lambs fed grain as early as they would consume it averaged 

 45 lbs. in weight at 12 weeks and 76.3 lbs. at 28 weeks. Another group not fed 

 grain made the same growth up to 12 weeks, but at 52 weeks their average 

 weight was only 67 lbs. 



The effects of some of the most common sheep dips on wool, J, I. Hardy 

 {Wyowinfj Sta. Rpt. 1919, pp. 164-167). — The force required to break locks of 

 wool after dipping is recorded. Seven proprietary dips were tested and the 

 breaking force varied from 277.3 to 258.4 gm. Since untreated wool broke at 

 284.6 gm., the effect of the dips is considered unimportant. 



The reindeer and its domestication, B. LAUfEE (Amer. Anthropol. Assoc. 

 Mem., 4 (1917), No. 2, pp. 91-1^7). — The author discusses the domestication of 

 the reindeer, mainly from the standpoint of ethnology, and cities a number of 

 Chinese references to the use of the reindeer in Manchuria and other parts of 

 Asia, 



Notes on reindeer nomadism, G. Hatt {Amer. Anthropol. Assoc. Mem., 6 

 (1919), No. 2, pp. 75-133, figs. 2). — An ethnological study dealing to some extent 

 with the reindeer as a domestic animal in Finland and the Scandinavian 

 Peninsula. 



