44 REPORT OF DEPARTMENT OF ANIMAL HUSBANDRY. 
COMMENTS. 
Without considering the cost of food the best results accom- 
panied the use of the ration in which 60 per ct. of the protein 
came from animal food. At the values stated for the several 
foods, or at the market prices usually holding, ducklings were 
grown more cheaply under the ration containing the least 
animal food. The growth was so slow, however, and the advan- 
tage of getting birds quickly ready for market is often so decided, 
that greater profit would lie with the more costly ration, for in 
this case about two weeks’ time was saved in get'ting birds to the 
same weight, and from an equal number hatched 15 per ct. more 
poultry was produced in the same time. There was ready for 
market at the same time about 145 pounds from Lot III and 
about 125 pounds from Lot I, equal in number to Lot III. 
So far as this one experiment goes, it seems from a study of the 
results that it will pay to feed freely of animal food during the 
first three to five weeks, and depend after that more or increasing 
proportions of the cheaper grain foods. The exact proportions 
most profitable to use will vary considerably at different times 
according to the food supply and the demand for the product. 
