230 



BOAKD OF AGRICULTUEE. 



[Jan. 



into four (Dr. Goessmann says practically three) feeding 

 periods, the nutritive ratios being as follows : First period, 

 8 days, 1:2.80; second period, 34 days, 1:2.53; third 

 period, 29 days, 1 : 3.G3 ; and fourth period, 3(3 days, 1 :4.35. 

 (The first and second periods differ merely incidentally, 

 and Dr. Goessmann in one part of his report combines 

 them.) 



The average daily ration per animal is shown in the fol- 

 io wino^ table : — 



Observe that in this experiment, although the nutritive 

 ratio is in all periods narrower than in the German standards, 

 the ratio "rows wider with advancing age. The assimilative 

 capacity of the animal changes ; it will not pay to give a 

 food so rich in nitrogen (proteine) to an old as to a younger 

 animal. Indeed, the older an animal grows, the more, as a 

 rule, it costs to produce a pound of increase. This point is 

 strikingly brought out by Dr. Goessmann's experiment, in 



