442 



THE PIGS OF GREAT BRITAIN. 



roots was given, and latterly lib. of peas daily per pig was used. 

 Two of the four pigs did not eat the food well during the later 

 stages, which helps to explain the less favourable results as com- 

 pared with those at Rothamsted. Thus, in Mr. Roberts' case,- 

 6611b. of dry organic matter was needed to produce each 1001b. 

 of increase ; whereas 4881b. in one case, and 4611b. in another, 

 gave a similar result in Sir J. Lawes's case. Hence, Mr. Roberts 

 concluded the food used by Sir J. Lawes, and which comprised 

 mixtures of beans, lentils, Indian corn, barley, and bran, was 

 more suitable for pig food than malt dust and palm-nut meal. 

 This was possibly the case, but it is evident that no comparison 

 can be relied upon as conclusive where the conditions as to the 

 animals operated on were different. And it must be noticed, as 

 tending to reduce the difference in the results, that in Sir J. 

 Lawes's experiments 24*841b. of dry organic matter in one case, 

 and 26*81b. in the other, was consumed per week for each 1001b. 

 live weight of animal ; whereas at Haslemere the average was 

 18'601b., or not much more than two-thirds the quantity. 

 Touching this remarkable difference, Mr. Roberts thus com- 

 ments : 



" It will be seen that the rate of consumption at Hasle- 

 mere was not much more than two-thirds of the consump- 

 tion at Rothamsted ; and when we consider how much of the 

 food is required for respiration and the waste of tissue, I think 

 we must be struck by the comparatively good return of 1001b. 

 increase in live weight for each 5611b. of dry organic matter 

 consumed. It certainly looks as though the fault did not lie in 

 the nutritive power of the food, but rather in its being not 

 sufficiently palatable to induce the pigs to consume it largely. 

 If by the addition of some highly flavoured condiment the pigs 

 could have been induced to eat half as much again of the food, 

 it seems probable that they might have fattened even more 

 rapidly than those at Rothamsted, and the profits in that case 

 would have been very much increased." 



Mr. Roberts supplies us with a balance sheet, which shows 

 that, whilst the sale of the pigs was 14s. less than their cost, 

 the value of the manure, according to theoretical standard, left 

 a balance on the four pigs of 11. 14s. — thus : 



