NOTES 843 



interesting to note the mortality among natural seedlings. Five plots of 

 second-year seedlings were laid out in July, 1917. Each seedling was 

 marked with a wire pin and a numbered tag. Taking the number of 

 thrifty plants at the time the plots were established as 100 per cent, the 

 percentage of survival on November 27 ranged from 61. i to 83, and 

 on May 7, 1918, from 16.6 to 62.1. 



A shortage of feed-stuffs has led English farmers to the use of 

 acorns for stock and the following experiments are reported : 



For the first two weeks the ration for agricultural horses consisted 

 of 3 stones of acorns, i stone of maize, and 2 stones of bran per horse 

 per week. Then, owing to the shortage of maize, 2 stones of palm 

 kernel cake were substituted for the maize ration. During the winter 

 it is proposed to replace the palm kernel cake by i stone of ground 

 nut cake and i stone of fish meal. The farmer writes : 



"This may be considered by many to be an inadequate food, yet our horses 

 are making full days and working hard, ploughing and dragging timber, etc. 

 In addition, they have straw chaff and i stone of hay per horse per day. They 

 look well and) the acorns have not shown bad effect. Should signs of con- 

 stipation appear each horse would be given i pint of linseed each week, the 

 linseed being previously soaked until it forms a jelly." 



As regards the method of storing and grinding the acorns, the fol- 

 lowing particulars are given : 



"Acorns when stored in the granaries should be moved every two to four 

 days, and perhaps oftener if the weather is damp and mild. There is some 

 difficulty in getting this properly and conscientiously done. On their first arrival 

 the acorns may be scattered, say, i inch thick on the floor, and afterward 

 shovelled, or moved with a large wooden hoe, into long lines across the build- 

 ing, the depth of them being in accordance with dryness and space ; this ensures 

 that the lines arc turned quite over and the lower acorns brought to the top. 



"It is desirable that these lines should always be moved in the same direction 

 if possible, the wet ones coming in at one end of the building and passing out 

 to be ground up from the other end; in this way the moving and turning of 

 every acorn is more assured. 



"It is most important that the acorns should be thoroughly dried before being 

 ground; they should also be sifted so as to extract all dust and grit. 



"They can be ground satisfactorily by the ordinary grist mill driveix by a 

 farm threshing engine, and no doubt also by an oil engine of similar power. 



"When quite dry, the acorns can be ground as fine as barley or maize meal, 

 as by so doing the shell becomes slightly more digestible, but this cannot be 

 done without admi.xture with some drier ingredient such as maize, palm kernel, 

 or ground nut cake. It might be possible to grind them alone if they have been 



