ANIMAL PRODUCTON. 



769 



It is stated that " as the price of corn and hay increases, it will be found 

 economical to add a nitrogenous sui>i)leiuent. In these trials linseed oil cake 

 was superior to cotton-seed meal. Clover hay proved to be greatly superior to 

 timothy hay as a roughness for fattening western yearling sheep, with shelled 

 corn as the grain ration. 



" The lot fed in the open required G.4 bushels more corn for each 100 lbs. 

 gain than did the lot fed on the same ration in the barn. Feeding sheep in an 

 open lot without shelter from the winter rains and snow is undoubtedly a poor 

 practice." 



Fattening western lambs, J. H. Skinner and F. G. Kino (Indiana Sta. Bui. 

 168 {1013), pp. 47-68). — The object of the work reported in this bulletin was to 

 determine the comparative feeding value of the more common roughages of the 

 farm and the advisability of using some concentratetl conunercial feeding stuff 

 for fattening lambs. Nine lots of 25 choice western lambs weighing approxi- 

 mately 63 lbs. each were fed during a 90-day feeding period with shelled corn 

 and various supplements, with results as shown in the following table: 



Sumwnr}! of luiih-fcrdinff experiments icith various supplements to shelled eorn. 



The most profitable rations were those in which shelled corn, clover hay and 

 corn silage were fed. When no silage was fed the rate of gain was satisfactory 

 but the cost of gain was higher than when silage was added to the ration. 

 When silage was fed as the only roughage, the gain was more economical but 

 not as rapid as when clover hay also was fed. The finish of the lambs fed 

 silage alone was also poorer than when both roughages were fed. Oats in the 

 proportion used proved to be too expensive to be used as a partial substitute 

 for corn. Cotton-seed meal increased the rate of gain but did not in all cases 

 add to the finish of the lambs while it always added to the cost of gain. Lambs 

 kept in a barn made as rapid and as economical gains as those in an open shed 

 but did not finish or sell as well. 



With the object of determining the influence of shearing during fattening on 

 the appetite, rate of gain, and cost of gain of fattening lambs, two lots each of 

 shorn and unshorn lambs were fed on shelled corn and clover hay, lots 1 and 3 

 receiving corn silage in addition. The shorn lambs had keener appetites, con- 

 sumed more feed, and made uore rapid gains than unshorn lambs. However, 

 the cost of gain was practically the same. Unshorn lambs yielded heavier 

 fleeces but the shearing had no effect on the profit. Shorn lambs did not require 

 dipping, which was necessary with unshorn lambs. 



