310 Agricultural Chemistry — Sheep-Feeding and Manure. 



matter and of nitrogen, and a large proportion of leaf to bulb, 

 betray, on the other hand, to a great extent, a less maturity of 

 growth — we should at once decide, that of the four specimens of 

 turnips, those consumed in pen 1 were the ripest, those in pen 2 

 coming next, then those in pen 3, and that those in the 4th pen 

 were much below the others in this respect ; for, we find the pro- 

 portion of leaf to bulb, and the per-centages of mineral matter 

 and nitrogen, are progressively greater as we proceed down the 

 columns from the 1st pen to the 4th ; whilst, with a trifling excep- 

 tion in the case of the turnips consumed in pen 4, the per-centage 

 of dry-matter is in the inverse order. Tliese inferences, indeed, 

 accord perfectly with the judgment which was formed of the 

 crops at the time they were drawn from the land, for the turnips 

 grown by mineral manure alone had become somewhat 'pithy; 

 those of pen 2, the produce of mineral manures and ammoniacal 

 salts, were fully ripe ; those of pen 3, froni mineral manures and 

 rape-cake, were scarcely so ; whilst those of pen 4, having the 

 mineral manures, and both rape-cake and ammoniacal salts in 

 addition, were far behind the rest in fitness for consumption, and 

 indeed they were considerably short of this point. If, however, 

 the per-centage of nitrogen were to be our guide in deciding upon 

 the feeding value of the several specimens, the crude turnips of 

 pen 4 would far exceed the rest in this respect. 



The results of the feeding experiments are arranged in the 

 three following Tables (p. 311). In the first are given the actual 

 quantities of fresh turnips, of dry-organic-matter, of mineral matter, 

 and of nitrogen, consumed in each pen by six sheep during 68 

 days, and the increase or loss of weight of the animals; in the 

 second is shown the weekly consumption of fresh food, and of the 

 several constituents, to every 100 lbs. live weight of animal; and 

 in the third, the amounts required to produce 100 lbs. increase 

 in live weight. 



In explanation of the construction of the first of these Tables, 

 which supplies in fact, to a great extent, the materials for the 

 other two, we should observe, that — in order to avoid the error to 

 which it is supposed the determination of the quantity of swedes 

 consumed in the first series of experiments was subject, and 

 which was attributable to the constant loss of weight of roots after 

 removal from the land — in the present instance, 5 tons of each of 

 the lots of turnips were weighed as nearly direct from the field 

 as was practicable, and from this stock smaller quantities were 

 weighed out to the sheep as they were wanted. It was thus found 

 that the sum of the weights taken during the course of the experi- 

 ments, which ended about three months after the carting of the 

 turnips, fell short of the original amount by 20J per cent, in the 

 turqips grown by mineral manures only, by 18 per cent, in those 



