262 REPORT OF COMMISSIONER OF FISH AND FISHERIES. 



Dnring four weeks ending May 7, 15 pounds of corn 



wero fed flock No. 1. At this date — 

 Sheep No. 1 weighed !J5 lbs., a gain of 4 lbs. 



2 '" 79 " 2i " 



3 " 80 " 4i " 



4 " 65 " i " 



5 " 82 " 3i " 



During four weeks ending jSIay 7, 15 pounds offish 



were fed flock No. 2. At this date- 

 Sheep No. 6 weighed 62 lbs., a gain of lbs. 



7 " 87 " 3 " 



" 8 " 75 " " 



9 " 73 " 2 " 



" 10 " 67 " 2 " 



Weight of flocli 361 " 15 " Weightofflock 364 " 



Recapitulation. — During the sixteen weeks of the experiment — 



Sheep No. 1 gained 9 ll)s. 



2 " 2 " 



3 " 13 " 



4 " 10 " 



5 " 14 " 



Plock No. 1 gained 48 '" 



Fed with corn — weighing, January 15, 313 pounds. 

 Gained 48 pounds, or 15^ per cent. 



Sheep No. 6 gained 13 lbs. 



7 " 13 " 



8 " 6J " 



9 " 6 " 



" 10 " 6 " 



Flock No. 2 gained 47 J " 



On fish — weighing, .Tanuary 15, 316J pounds. 

 Gained 47J pounds, or ISjig per cent. 



Tbat is to say, the corn-fed flock gained 48 pounds, and the fisli-fed 

 flock 47.J pounds during the sixteen weeks of the experiment. 



Professor Farrington has courteously favored me with some further, 

 but as yet unpublished, details of his experiments. The fish scrap 

 from herring was ungrouud and some of the fragments were rather 

 coarse. It was hard to get the sheep to eat much of the fish, though 

 they gradually learned to like it better. This accounts for the very 

 small quantity consumed. 



A second trial similar to the above was made the succeeding winter, 

 and with like results, except that the sheep ate rather more of the fish. 

 In one case a flock of four consumed 28 pounds in four weeks, which is 

 equivalent to 4 ounces per head j)er day, while in the above series they 

 averaged only about 2 ounces per head per day. The meal was regu- 

 lated by the amount of fish consumed. The quantities of both were 

 thus extremely small. It is to be noted, however, that the sheep had " all 

 the good hay they would eat." The fish was distasteful, and they took 

 very little. If they had received a fixed quantity of staw, cornstalks, 

 or poor hay, instead of good hay ad libitum^ they could doubtless have 

 been got to eat more fish, and would probably have learned to like it. 



Mr. Wilder, of Pembroke, whose statements were quoted above, and 

 who furnished the scrap for Professor Farrington's experiments, " keeps 

 about one hundred sheep * * * on threshed straw with one-half 

 pound per day to each sheep of dried fish pomace * *, for which 

 the sheep are more eager than they are for grain * * *, and they 

 come out in the spring much better than when fed on good English hay 

 with corn." 



Professor Farrington agrees with me in the opinion, indeed the experi- 

 ence of farmers who have fed fish successfully leaves room for no other, 

 and the European experimenters quoted below say the same thing, that 

 sheep, swine, and probably neat cattle, can be taught to eat fish, and 

 when once wonted to it will take it with excellent relish. 



A dry, well-prepared, and finely-ground product, such as may be 

 made by the Goodale or other processes, would doubtless keep better, 

 be more free from oflensive odor and taste, and worth much more for 

 feeding than the ordinary scrap. 



