202 THE CHEMISTRY OF CATTLE FEEDING 



amounts of nutrients, the ration is entirely satisfactory. About 

 o'5 Ib. of protein in the fine foods must be credited to the 

 maintenance portion to compensate for the deficiency in the 

 latter ; the remainder is ample, but not greatly excessive. 



RATION V. 



The meadow hay and bran together form a liberal, but not 

 excessive maintenance ration ; but the allowance of oats and 

 bran is quite inadequate for fattening. The ration was used 

 for cattle on board ship, and was probably not intended to 

 improve their condition, but only to prevent it becoming 

 impaired. For this purpose it is probably satisfactory. 



Sheep. The requirements of fattening sheep may be 

 computed in a similar manner. Each pound of increase 

 contains 071 Ib. of fat and 0*074 Ib. of protein. These 

 ingredients are together equal to r86 Ibs. of starch. There is 

 some uncertainty regarding the amount of the nutrients that 

 can be stored up as body fat by sheep, but there appears to be 

 no doubt that it is greater than in the case of oxen. It is pro- 

 bably not less than 75 per cent., and at that rate, 2*48 Ibs. of 

 starch, or equivalent quantities of other nutrients, would be 

 required. To this must be added a certain allowance for the 

 work of digestion. For fine foods used in fattening this may 

 be put, on the average, at about 5 per cent. The total amount 

 of nutrients, reckoned as starch, required to produce an 

 increase of i Ib. live weight would, therefore, be 2*6 ibs. Of 

 this amount at least a tenth (0*26 Ib.) should, as before, be in 

 the form of protein. 



