ANIMAL PRODUCTION. 1003 



Cattle feeding: experiment, \V. Bum i: I Edinb. and East of Scot. Col. Agr. Bui. 

 8, pp. 55-^7).— Using 3 Lota of 8 2-year-old Irish rattle, the relative merits of decor- 

 ticated, Egyptian, and Bombay cotton-seed cake were studied. In the 20 weeks 

 covered by the tesl the average daily gain per head on the decorticated cotton-seed 

 cake ration was L.93 lbs., and on both the Egyptian and the Bombay cake rations 

 2.07 lbs. 



According to the author, " Bombay cotton-cake has turn. -I ou1 more effective per 

 unit than Egyptian cotton-cake. . . . Bombay cotton-cake lias been Found a cheap, 



Bafe, and suitable f I for starting the winter feeding of 2-year-old bullocks which 



are receiving a liberal ration of turnips. About 6 lbs. per head per day, however, 

 is probably about the maximum quantity if is advisable to use. When the feed of 

 concentrated food rises above this quantity the Bombay cotton-cake should be sup- 

 plemented by a food containing more oil, e. g., linseed cake." 



Feeding broken or crushed bones to cattle, I >. Him heon I Agr. Jour. ' <>y„ 

 <;,„,</ Hope, 28(1906), No. 2, />/>. 210 .'/.'). —It isacommon practice with many farm- 

 ers in South Africa to give their cattle broken bones (which are readilj eaten) to 

 supply the body with phosphates. 



Experiments were undertaken to learn the comparative digestibility of small pieces 

 of hone and hone meal. Two lbs. of roughly crushed hone 0.17to0.5 in. in size 

 were introduced into the ftomach of a fasting ox through an opening in the rumen. 

 These hones were excreted apparently unchanged by the action of the digestive 

 juices. When crushed dried bone about the size of coarse oatmeal was fed to a steer 

 at the rate of a pound a day for 7 days it was apparently completely digested, none 

 of the bone being found in the excreta. The hone and the oats which were fed 

 at the same time were dyed with methylene blue. Many of the oats were recovered 

 in the feces still colored. 



Measure of the mechanical work performed by Limousin cattle, Ringel- 

 manx | Compt. Rend. Acad. Sci. [Paris'], 141 {1905), No. 16, pp. 628-681 I. -According 

 to the measurements reported, a pair of Limousin cattle 4. j year- old. weighing 1,380 

 kg. with the yolk, furnished mechanical work equivalent to L90 kilogram meters of 

 available work per second, from which the conclusion is drawn that this race of 

 cattle makes excellent draft animals. 



Tests of the strength of oxen, M. Ringelm wn | Bui. Soc. Nat. Agr. France, 65 

 (1905), No. 8; abs.inEev. Gen. Agron., 15 (1906), No. /, pp. 29 82).— The method 

 rests on the assumption that the " mean sustained effort which can be furnished in 

 steady work " is a constant proportion of the maximum effort that the animal can 

 put forth. A similar definite relation is assumed between the maximum speed with- 

 out a load and the mean sustained speed when doing work. These relations have 

 been experimentally shown to be approximately 25 per cent and 30 per cent, 

 respectively — that is to say, the actual rate of work is represented by .25 X .30=. 075 

 of the product of maximum pull and maximum speed. When both of these elements 

 are considered it may happen that owing to favorable build an animal showing 

 rather light draft exhibits greater power than a heavier and slower animal. 



Twenty-nine yoke of oxen were tested, the strongest pair developing a mean rate 

 of work of 190 kilogram meters per second, or 2. 5 horsepower. It is found necessary to 

 have the oxen driven by a familiar hand, as they do HO< do their best \<>r strangers. 



A special harness was used which reduces the maximum pressure on the animal, as 



otherwise the effort put forth would he limited at the point where the pressure 

 becomes painful. 



Theoretical and practical calf feeding-, M. E£asquin (IS alimentation theorique 

 et pratiqu* du veau. Renaix, Belgium: ./. Leherte-Courtin t 1905, pp. 98, figs. 2). — The 



general functions of nutrition are discussed and information summarized OH the value 

 of a large number of materials as supplements to skim milk in calf feeding, including 

 among others meat- meal, potato starch, flaxseed (alone and with corn meal and with 



