FATTENING RATIONS 



Fattening Pigs. 



201 



These rations relate, of course, to German animals, 

 and to the class of foods used in Germany. The 

 quantities of food recommended for the ox and sheep, 

 and especially the former, are considerably larger, 

 while the rations for the pig are smaller than those 

 mentioned in the estimates by Lawes and Gilbert, 

 previously quoted. These differences are partly due to 

 the fact that the live weight on which the food is 

 reckoned in the German table is that of the animal at 

 the commencement of the fattening period, while in 

 Lawes and Gilbert's figures the standard live weight 

 is the middle weight of the fattening period. As the 

 daily quantity of food consumed by a full-grown ox or 

 sheep does not seriously vary during fattening, the 

 proportion of food to 1,000 lbs. live weight appears 

 larger on the German mode of reckoning than on 

 that employed by Lawes and Gilbert. Pigs, on the 

 other hand, are frequently fattened before their growth 

 is completed, and in their case there may be a rather 

 considerable increase in the daily consumption of food 

 during fattening. 



Any real acquaintance with the subject must lead to 

 the conclusion that the quantity of food required by a 

 fattening ox or sheep must vary a good deal according 

 to the class of diet employed. Sheep fattened at 

 Rothamsted on swedes, with cake or corn, consumed 



