IT34 FEEDS AND rr:T:nTNG 



ceivecl looo gr. of chopped hay all the time. In the 2nd experiment the 

 rations were changed so that No. 2 also received hay meal. 



To the pigs hay meal only was given, at the rate of 1000 gr. per head per 

 day, with i litre of full cream milk. 



The hay meal sifted through a Basic Slag sieve contained 60 % of 

 fine matter. When examined with the microscope it was seen to consist 

 chiefly of groups of cells with a little cell debris. 



The digestibility was calculated from the total content of nitrogen in- 

 soluble in hydrochloric pepsin. It gave the following average starch value 

 per 100 kg. of dried substance : 



Sheep i Pigs 



Chopped hay Hay meal j Hay meal 



25.5 26.4 17.6 



Calculated from the total nitrogen .... 

 Calculated from the uitrogen insoluble in 



hydrochloric pepsin 27.4 28.2 21.7 



It is evident from these figures that the difference between hay meal 

 and chopped hay in the case of the sheep is so small that it may be entirely 

 disregarded. It may hence be concluded that grinding hay does not increase 

 its digestibility. The pigs utilised hay meal less effective^ than the sheep, 

 which is quite intelligible. 



The starch value alone however does not furnish a sufficient basis for 

 a fair valuation of haj- meal. It must be borne in mind that, owing to the 

 reduction of the work of mastication, the digested nutritive elements are 

 better utilised in the case of hay meal than with ordinary' chopped hay. 

 Nevertheless, according to the writers, this advantage ma3^be obtained 

 merely by chopping the ha}'^ verj^ small. Consequently the grinding of 

 hay is superfluous. 



III. — Cladonia rangiferina. — These lichens were gathered in Allgau 

 (Bavaria), thoroughly dried in the sun and afterwards roughl}- ground. 

 They were first given to sheep and pigs to see whether the}' would take them. 

 It was found that at the outset they were reluctantly eaten, but when mixed 

 with good forage the animals consumed them regularly. The quantity ab- 

 sorbed, however, was srnall. To enable pigs to accept the lichens well the 

 latter must be freed from the disagreeable tannic substances b}' treatment 

 with a soli\tion of potash. 



For the digestion experiments onh' a small quantity of lichens re- 

 mained at the disposal of the writers, so that the)^ had to content themsel- 

 ves with making a parallel experiment with one sheep. The lichens were 

 administered without having been previously treated with the solution of 

 potash. The animal was fir.st given 800 gr. of hay of known digestibility 

 after which 400 gr. of ha}^ were replaced by 400 gr. of lichens. 



The dry lichens had the chemical composition shown in Table III. 



