EXPERIMENTS IN FEEDING. 67 



The gain on the average was equal to one pound in three days ; 

 or an increase in weight of one pound for every 56 Ibs. of food 

 fed ; or for every 62 ounces of dry matter contained in the food. 

 This is a very good instance of a typical fattening food for an or- 

 dinary sheep of this size. The results of a large number of exper- 

 iments made in feeding roots to sheep, go to show that 150 Ibs. of 

 ruta-bagas*, or mangels, fed in open yards, or 100 Ibs. fed in yards 

 with sheds for protection, may be expected to produce one pound 

 of increase in live weight. When 1| Ibs. of a mixed feed of oil- 

 cake and peas were given daily, along with 18 Ibs. of ruta-bagas, 

 fed under shelter, the gain was equal to 2 Ibs. for every 100 Ibs. of 

 roots, and 4 Ibs. of mixed peas and oil-cake ; showing that 4 Ibs. 

 of peas and oil-cake produced an increase of one pound in the live 

 weight. A number of experiments in feeding clover hay with 

 linseed-oil-cake-meal, have established the fact that, allowing 6 Ibs. 

 of oil-cake-meal for one pound of increased live weight, it required 

 11 to 13 Ibs. of hay to make an equal gain. In feeding peas and 

 beans with roots and hay, 8 Ibs. of the mixed grain was found to 

 produce an increase in weight of one pound. When oats were fed 

 with the roots, there was one pound of increased weight for 7 Ibs. 

 of the grain. When barley was substituted, 6 Ibs. of the gram 

 produced a gain of one pound. These interesting experiments are 

 recorded in the Journal of the Royal Agricultural Society, Vol. 

 I, p. 169; Vol. VII, p. 295; Vol. VIII, pp. 27, 28, and 256; Vol. 

 X, p. 358, and the Highland Society's Transactions ; and are sub- 

 stantiated by experiments made by Messrs. Lawes and Gilbert, of 

 Rothamstead, in which they found that 272 Ibs. oil-cake, 252 

 Ibs. clover hay, and 3,753 Ibs. ruta-bagas, fed together, produced 

 100 Ibs. of increase. These results must of course be accepted as 

 subject to variations in the quality of the various feeds, the kind 

 and condition of the sheep, the state of comfort and repose in 

 which they are kept, and the care and attention given to them. 

 But making every allowance for contingencies, it may be safe to 

 estimate from these results, that the relative quantities of the differ- 

 ent feeds required to produce one pound of flesh, are as follows 



Ruta-bagas fed in open yards 150 Ibs 



Ruta-bagas fed under cover 100 " ' 



Good clover hay 12 " 



Beans or peas !!!!""" 8 " 



Oats 



Barley ........".."."/.!".!! 



Linseed-oil-cake-meal ] 



Linseed-oil-cake-meal, and peas mixed , 



7 



The last quantity mentioned, curiously enough corroborates the 



