19191 AISTIMAL PRODUCTION. 1^77 



Average quantity and composition of ewe's milk by breeds. 



Some of the ewes raised tv/o lambs and some only one, but in spite of this 

 disturbing element, which makes exact comparisons difficult, it appears that 

 the most important factor in securing growth of lambs is amount and not 

 quality of milk. 



Green forage crops for lambs, J. W. Hammond {Mo. Bui. Ohio Sta., Jf {1919), 

 No. 4, PP- 112-116, figs. 3).— Three experiments at the Southeastern Test Farm 

 at Cai'penter, Ohio, to compare blue grass pasture with annual forage crops 

 for fattening lambs are reported. It is stated that the blue grass was inferior 

 to that found in the best blue grass areas owing to the nature of the soil In 

 the experimental plats. In experiment 1, in which rape was the annual crop 

 used, the lambs weighed about 48 lbs. per head at the start and were kept 

 on pasture 131 days. The daily gain per lamb was 0.11 lb. for the blue grass 

 lot and 0.113 lb. for the rape lot, but the gains per acre were, respectively, 

 48 and 242 lbs. In each of the other experiments, one of the two lots grazed 

 rye, red clover, and rape in succession, the rape period being the longe.st. The 

 lambs in these experiments had an initial w^eight of about 33 lbs. In experi- 

 ment 2, the average daily gain per head for the blue grass lot was 0.192 lb. 

 during 153 days, and for the lot on annual crops 0.23 lb. during 132 days. In 

 experiment 3, both lots grazed 160 days ; the average daily gain with blue grass 

 being 0.121 lb. per head and with the annual crops 0.161 lb. A test with rape 

 at Wooster is also cited in which lambs made a gain of 576 lbs. per acre during 

 83 days' grazing. 



"The gains produced by these annual forage crops indicate that their more 

 extensive use in lamb production would be found advantageous, either to re- 

 place or supplement permanent pastures. More labor is required than where 

 permanent pastures are used, but in sections of the State where land is rela- 

 tively high in price the greater production per unit of land may be more than 

 sufficient to offset the greater labor cost. 



"By providing good pasture for lambs after weaning and by using an annual 

 pasture crop, a setback in growth can frequently be avoidetl and the lambs can 

 be made ready for market at an earlier age. This latter consideration is im- 

 portant, as it is advantageous to the corn-belt farmer, in most instances, to 

 get his lambs on the market in good flesh early in the autumn so they will not 

 have to compete with the heavy runs of range lambs." 



[Experiments with swine], F. A. Hays {Delaware Sta. Bui. 122 {1918), pp. 

 21-25).. — Some results of feeding tomato waste and garbage to swine are re- 

 ported. A lot of 5 pigs weighing about 130 lbs. per head were fed hominy feed 

 and tankage In a self-feeder for 40 days and made an average daily gain of 

 1.25 lbs. per head at an expenditure of 5 lbs. of hominy feed and 0.1 lb. of 

 tankage per pound of gain. A comparable lot fed similarly but with access 

 to tomato waste gained 1.56 lbs. per head per day and consumed about 4 lbs. 



