268 



EXPERIMENT STATION EECORD. 



The effect of drinking and salting food upon body weight and the water 

 content of the organs, K. Farkas {Landw. Jahrh., 31 (1908), No. 1, pi). .J/- 

 105). — The author's experiments were made with sheep, were numerous, and 

 were carried out under a variety of conditions. The total body weight before 

 and after slaughtering, the weight of blood, organs, etc., hourly variations iu 

 weight after tbe water was taken, and other questions were considered. 



According to the conclusions reached, when sheep drank so much water that 

 the body weight was increased 8 to 10 per cent it did not after 2 to 5 hours 

 surpass the normal weight by more than 1 per cent. When a normal amount 

 of water was taken the increase in weight was never more than 1 per cent and 

 usually not more than 0.5 per cent. The effects Qf overdrinking were not 

 noticeable after .5 hours. 



If a sheep was given a large amount of salt and was then allowed to drink 

 an excessive amount of water the body weight would be no more than 2.5 to 

 4.3 per cent greater than in the case of a sheep given no feed or water for 12 

 hours and not more than 1 per cent greater than that of a sheep given a normal 

 amount of feed and water before slaughtering. These facts are of importance 

 to the buyer, as, if a sheep is sold 10 or 12 hours after salting and watering, 

 an appreciable part of the weight paid for is water contained in the body and 

 not flesh. 



The analytical data reported led to the conclusion that simple overdrinking 

 without salt did not affect the water content of the organs even if it was con- 

 tinued for a long time. On the other hand, overdrinking when much salt was 

 taken increased the water content of the lungs and heart and the fatty tissues 

 more or less, and probably the weight of the muscles. 



In the author's opinion, the digestive disturbances, loss of appetite, etc., 

 noted when cattle are fed very succulent or wet feed is not so much due to the 

 excessive water content as to the considerable amount of salt which is com- 

 monly supplied also. 



Digestion experiments, G. S. Fraps {Texas 8ta. Bui. No. IO4, pp. 53).— The 

 digestibility of Katir corn, milo maize and molasses, with a basal ration of cot- 

 ton-seed meal and hulls, was studied with steers as subjects. In addition to the 

 usual constituents the digestibility of the sugars, starches, and pentosans was 

 determined, as was also the fertilizer value of the manure. 



The average coeflicient of digestibility of the basal ration and the feeds 

 especially studied is shown in the following table : 



Arcrngc coefflcictif of digest ihilit 11 of feediiifi stuffs — Experiment^ -iritli steers. 



The following table shows the values which were obtained for the digestibility 

 of the crude fiber, the nitrogen-free extract, and the constituents of the nitrogen- 

 free extract in the different materials studied: 



