PKODUCTION OF WOOL. 129 



however, the amides have been reckoned as albuminoids ; 

 the ratios are thus too narrow, the error falling chiefly on 

 the diets of the sheep and oxen. Practical results show 

 that very good rates of increase may be obtained with 

 smaller proportions of albuminoids than those recom- 

 mended by Wolff, if cereal grains form a considerable 

 part of the diet. Thus, a three years' trial at Woburn 

 proves that a daily ration of 20 Ibs. swedes, J Ib. hay, and 

 J Ib. wheat for sheep (nitrogenous substance to non- 

 nitrogenous 1 : 6 7, albuminoid ratio about 1 : 11) 

 yields excellent results, generally equal to those obtained 

 when cake is substituted for wheat. The economy of 

 any diet cannot, however, be decided without taking into 

 account the value of the manure produced. From this 

 point of view, fattening with cake or leguminous corn 

 maybe more to the farmer's advantage than the employ- 

 ment of cereal grains. 



Fat, as we have already seen, is the most potent of 

 the constituents of food ; oil-cakes rich in oil have thus 

 a special value for the production of concentrated diets, 

 and are peculiarly adapted for winter feeding. 



Young animals require a more nitrogenous diet 

 during fattening than animals of maturer age, as growth, 

 as well as fat, must be provided for. 



Production of Wool. Wool, besides the moisture and 

 dirt which it naturally contains, is made up of three in- 

 gredients, suint, fat, and pure wool-hair. The suint is 

 an excretion of the perspiration glands of the skin ; 

 it chiefly consists of a compound of potassium with an 

 organic acid containing nitrogen, of which little is known. 

 Suint is soluble in water, and is in great part removed 



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