FARMERS' INSTITUTES. 133 



that while animals fed loose in shreds or yards consume a trifle more 

 food, still the differences in results are not very marked. There is, 

 however, a saving of one-half in favor of the loose feeding where 

 labor is considered, as well as the advantage in the preservation and 

 quality of the manure produced. 



EXPERIMENTAL SHEEP FEEDING AT M. A. C. 



BY W. P. SNYDER^ (SPECIAL STUDENT) AGRICULTURAL COLLEGE. 



The students at the Agricultural College have just finished an ex- 

 periment in sheep feeding which has proven of much value to those 

 interested in animal husbandry. 



The College purchased a flock of Shropshire grade lambs for this 

 test in the fall. These lambs were put under the care and management 

 of three members of the senior class with the purpose of giviug them 

 practical work in feeding. It was a successful attempt to fix perma- 

 nently in our minds the principles already learned in the class room. 

 The plan was to let us conduct the feeding as we would for ourselves 

 on the farm, with the aid of helpful suggestions given to us occasion- 

 ally. Our purpose was to produce the best quality of mutton by feed- 

 ing food that contained a high per cent of protein. 



The lambs were divided into three lots of seventeen each almost 

 equal in weight, and kept in pens side by side in a barn. Each of the 

 students had charge of one lot. During the first eleven days the lambs 

 gained at the rate of .27 pounds each per day, making 100 pounds 

 increase at a cost of $3.40. Each lamb consumed daily on an average, 

 1.52 pounds of clover, .88 pounds of grain, .99 pounds of roots and 4.64 

 pounds or 4.5 pints of water. The roots were pulped and fed before the 

 grain in the evening. Hay, grain and water were given to the lambs 

 twice each day. We were careful to reduce the amount of feed on 

 the warm days, as former experiments here have shown that sheep 

 eat more and make better gains during cold weather. Care was also 

 taken to give proper ventilation but we found that we could not always 

 meet the sudden changes in the weather. 



The experiment proper began on November 8, continuing till January 

 20, a period of seventy-three days. The ration of grain varied slightly 

 but all contained a high percentage of protein, the average being two 

 parts of corn, two of oats and one each of bran and oil meal. One lot 

 were fed some barley with the other grains. 



Each lamb, on an average, gained .29 pounds per day. This increase 

 compares favorably with that of other experiments conducted under 

 similar conditions, but the cost of production was too high for profitable 

 returns under the usual market conditions, though, in this instance, 

 the lambs netted a satisfactory profit, largely because of the superior 

 quality of the mutton produced. The expensive production was due, 

 not so much to the character of the grain fed, as to other factors. We 

 put the lambs on a grain ration rapidly, with the intention of feeding 



