672 EXPERIMENT STATION EECOED. 



quickly in sr.ch areas as would protect tbe vital parts. From the iucubator 

 to the laying period the chicks experienced at least four molts, either partial 

 or complete. " 



" Hens have individual traits as to season of molting, but seldom as to rota- 

 tion of molt. Young hens molted more quicky than older ones. . . . 



" The ' forced molt ' in one year did not influence materially, as to time and 

 completeness, the molt of the succeeding year. . . . 



" The starvation process appeared to increase broodiness. . . . As com'- 

 pared to the fed flocks, the starved hens molted slightly earlier and more uni- 

 formly. They were in somewhat better condition at the end of the molt ; molted 

 (average) in slightly less time; gained less above first weight during molt; 

 gained slightly more in weight during the year ; resumed production somewhat 

 more quickly after molt ; laid a few more eggs during winter ; were materially 

 retarded in egg production ; produced less eggs after the molt was completed ; 

 produced eggs at a greater cost per dozen ; consumed slightly less food during 

 the year; had slightlj- less mortality; showed slightly more broodiness; paid a 

 much smaller profit. 



"The fowls produced the largest profits in the order of their ages. The 

 1-year-old hens produced the greatest number of eggs and gave the largest net 

 profits. The 2-year-olds were a close second with the 3-year-olds somewhat 

 farther behind, having, however, a good balance profit to their credit. 



" There was considerably less mortality in the 2-year-olds, which were 

 hopper fed dry mash, than in either the 1-year-olds or 3-year-olds, which 

 were fed a wet mash." 



DAIRY FARMING— DAIRYING. 



Home-grown rations in economical production of milk and butter, J. X. 

 Price {Tennessee Sta. Bid. SO, pp. 31-50). — Experiments to demonstrate the 

 value of feeding home-grown rations to dairy cows are reported. " The feeds 

 used in this experiment were corn silage, corn stover, alfalfa hay, soy-bean straw, 

 soy-bean meal, corn-and-cob meal, cotton-seed meal, and [a proprietary] dairy 

 feed. Corn silage was the basis of all the rations, every cow^ getting corn 

 silage throughout the entire experiment. The other feeds were so combined 

 that soy-bean sti-aw was fed against corn stover, soy-bean hay against alfalfa 

 hay, and soy-bean meal against cotton-seed meal." Analyses of these feeds 

 are given. Each experiment comprised three periods of 30 days each and in- 

 cluded 2 lots of 4 cows each. 



The average yield per lot per period on the corn stover ration was 1,757 lbs. 

 milk, at a cost of 7.9 cts. per gallon, and on the soy-bean straw ration it was 

 1,978 lbs. milk at a cost of 6.66 cents per gallon. In the experiment in which 

 alfalfa hay was compared with soy-bean hay, the average yield on the alfalfa 

 hay ration was 1,822 lbs. milk, at a cost of 9.44 cts. per gallon, and on the 

 soy-bean hay ration 2,067 lbs. milk, at a cost of 3.96 cts. per gallon. When soy- 

 bean meal was compared witb cotton-seed meal as a supplement to corn-and- 

 cob meal, corn silage, and alfalfa, the average yield on the cotton-seed meal 

 ration was 1,633 lbs. milk at a cost of 10.17 cts. per gallon, and on the soy- 

 bean meal ration 1,723 lbs. milk at a cost of 9.47 cts. per gallon. 



" A ton of soy-bean hay that will yield 560 lbs. of beans and 1,440 lbs. of 

 straw, and can be produced for $7, has a higher feeding value than a ton 

 of alfalfa hay, which at present prices will cost from $20 to $25 on the 

 market. . . . 



" Since the home-grown rations used in this experiment produced larger 

 yields, kept the animals in better health, and greatly reduced the cost of pro- 



