864 EXPERIMENT S'lATION HKCORl). 



'Stoffwrohsclfi, II. srr., .i (1908), No. J..^ p/i. H')6, 8.57). — According to the author's 

 investifiatioiis, bic.vclist.s eiulured a kni^ race better thau pedestrians. In the 

 case of tlie pedestrians no differences were observed which could bfe attributed 

 to vegetarian or to ordinary (li(>t or to training or lack of it. 



ANIMAL PRODUCTION. 



The self-heating of hay. II. MieiiI': (Die titihslerliUzung des Heues. Jena, 

 1907, PI). 1J7, Jiiis. .'!.'>; re r. in Zriitbl. I'hijsiol., 22 (1D08), A o. 17, p. 536).— With 

 a specially constructed api^aratus the author conducted experiments which led 

 him to conclude that the self-heating of hay is a bacteriological and not a chem- 

 ical process as suggested by Boekout and De Vries (E. S. R., 17, p. 1001). The 

 principal organisms concerned in raising the temperature to 40° are Bacillus 

 coU and OuHuni lactis. Above 40° li. culfactor is most abundant and thrives 

 the best at about G0° ('. Other species present depend somewhat on the nature 

 of the i)lants comi)osing the hay. During the heating i)roc<'ss many vegetative 

 and spore forms of molds and liactoria are destroyed. 



Analyses of [South American] food and forage plants, (i. D'Utra (Bol. 

 Apr. [Sao Paulo], 9. ser., 1908, Nd.<i. 7, pp. 521-541; 9, pp. 683-695; 10, pp. 786- 

 797). — Analyses are reported of 434 grasses, legumes, and other plants made 

 between 1898 and 1907 from specimens collected about Sao Paulo. The analyses 

 include the calculated digestible nutrients, and in most cases the manurial 

 constituents. 



Australian pasture herbs, F. Turner {Sydney Morning Herald, 1907, July 

 11; Roy. Bot. Gard. Kcir. Bui. Misc. Inform. 1909, No. 1, pp. 12-16).— This 

 article consists of brief notes on the economic value of Darling clover {Trigo- 

 nella suavissima), Erodiuin cygnorum. Geranium dissectum, pig^'eed {Boer- 

 haairia diffusa), mustard, nardoo (Marsilea drumniondii) , native carrot (Daucus 

 brachiatus), native lucern (Psoralea tcnax), native plantain or wild sago 

 (Plantago varia), parakeelya (Calandrinia balonensis), and warrigal cabbage 

 ( Tetragon ill Cd-pansa ) . 



Commercial feeding stuffs, J. E. Halligan (Louisiana Stas. Bui. II4, pp. 

 3-255). — During the season of 1907-8 the station analyzed 8,61.5 samples of com- 

 mercial feeding stuff's under the State feed-stuff' law. comprising cotton-seed 

 meal, cotton-seed feed, rice bran, rice polish, wheat bran, wheat products, 

 molasses feeds, coi-n chops, corn and oat feeds, hominy feed, feed meals, brewers' 

 grains, poultry feeds, beef scrap, blood meal, and commercial mixed feeds. 



The samples of cotton-seed meal examined carried in general a high protein 

 content, but this ^•aried from 32.06 per cent to 50.88 per cent. The percentage 

 of fat varied from 3.64 to 17.1.5. Of 800 samples examined, 103 were below 

 guaranty in protein, 347 in fat, and 353 in carbohydrates. 



The quality of rice bran seemed a little higher than the previous year. It 

 is i)ointed out that many adulterated rice brans reach the guaranty yet may be 

 injurious to the digestive organs of the animal to which they are fed if the 

 percentage of hulls is high. 



" There has been some trouble experienced with molasses feeds this past 

 season, due to decomposition. Some of the samples contained lumps of molasses 

 showing that they were not well mixed. Unground weed seeds were found in 

 some shipments. These are objectionable, as they sometimes pass through the 

 animal undigested and so the.v are a source of disseminating weeds. . . . 



" Care should be exercised in keeping down the moisture content, as an excess 

 of moisture tends to promote decomitosition. The purchaser should avoid ship- 

 ments that are not in good mechanical condition and feeds that smell rancid and 

 contain over 12 per cent of moisture." 



