72 EXPERIMENT STATION RECORD. 



Notes on stable ventilation, Noack (Deut. Landw. Prcssc, 3Jf {1901), No. 103, 

 pp. iS/y, <S7^). — Conditions necessary to proper ventilation and simple means 

 of securing it in stables are briefly discussed in this article. 



History of Shorthorn cattle, edited by J. Sinclair (London, 1907, pp. XIV+ 

 t^9.~>, /*/.s-. (),.^ niiip 1). — The objoct of tbis volume has been to "place on record 

 as many facts as could be obtnined ref,'arding the work of tbe early breeders, 

 and tbe development of llie bived tbrouKbout tbe wide reijions where it is 

 cultivated. No ntlcmpt lias been made, or, indeed, could have been made, in 

 a sint^le volume of reasonable size to also furnisb detailed accounts of existini^ 

 lierds oi- of tliose recently broken u|». A jjood many of them have, however, 

 been brieliy alluded to, and a list of existinj; berds in tbe T'nited Kingdom is 

 also iirinted." 



Feeding blackstrap molasses to young calves, T. E. Woodward and J. (J. 

 IjEK, Jr. { LoiiisiiiiKi Kta-s. Hiil. Ul'i. pp. 3-38). — In this test 13 calves were used, 

 the younger calves Iieing fed 4 to (! lbs. of skim milk twice daily and the older 

 ones (J to 8 lbs. Oat hay and crab grass hay were also fed as well as a grain 

 mixture consisting of bran, corn meal, and oil meal 2:2:1. tlie young calves 

 receiving all tbe hay and grain tbey would eat up clean and tbe older ones 

 about 2 lbs. of grain per head daily. The amount of molasses varied but in 

 no instance did it fail to scour the calves, the amount required to produce this 

 effect varying from 0.05 lb. with very young calves to 0.7 lb. with calves 7 

 months old. Tbe molasses used at first was slightly sour, but this was not the 

 cause of tbe scouring as the same effect was noted wlien fresh molasses heated 

 to a tem])erature of 180° F. or more was used. Exercise made no difference 

 and granulated sugar produced scouring when an amount equivalent to that 

 contained in the molasses wf.s fed. Milk sugar also proved laxative, but about 

 twice as much as of tbe cane sugar could be fed without tbis effect. " When 

 the calves scoured their droppings were sour smelling, but when they did not 

 scour, their droppings did not smell sour." 



Several substances were tested as preventives of scouring. Formalin, blood 

 meal, and limewater proved useless. Common salt had a slightly beneficial 

 effect and 50 grains of tannin in some cases jtermitted tbe feeding of about 

 one-half more molasses than was possible without it. In other cases it seemed 

 to be without effect. All of these substances, as well as the sugar and molasses, 

 were fed mixed with the milk. 



The authors conclude that " on account of its laxative effect, blackstrap 

 molasses can not be used as a supplement to skim milk for calf feeding ])ur- 

 poses in sufficient quantity to be of any practical value. 



" This laxative effect is due to the sugar content, rather than to any of the 

 other constituents of the blackstrap. 



'• Scouring is caused by the fermentation of the sugar in the digestive tract. 



" Salt and tannin have a beneficial efl'ect, but will not i)revent scouring." 



The bulletin contains an introduction by W. H. l)alrymi)]e in which the de- 

 sirability of sui)]>U>menting skim milk by inexpensive feeds is discussed. 



Milk substitute for calf feeding, T. E. Woodward {Louisiana Htas. Bid. lOJ/, 

 pp. 39, .'/O). — Brief statements are made regarding the use on a Louisiana farm 

 of bean soup, with shorts, blood meal, and sometimes cotton-seed meal grad- 

 ually substituted for milk in calf feeding. The calves were encouraged to eat 

 hay as soon as possible, alfalfa being preferred with peavine hay as second 

 choice. 



The method of making the soui> which has been found successful is to parboil 

 the l)eans with soda, drain and boil again until soft. After squeezing the beans 

 through a colander salt is added until the soup has a decidedly brackish taste 



