1903.] PUBLIC DOCUMENT — No. 33. 153 



more than home-grown seed, but it is richly worth the 

 greater price. 



XIV. — Poultry Experiments. 

 In our experiments with poultry during the past year we 

 have confined our attention almost exclusively to questions 

 connected with the feeding of fowls for eggs. The princi- 

 pal question upon which we are striving to obtain light 

 relates to the proper relation between the different nutrients 

 in the ration fed ; or, in other words, it is a question of the 

 best nutritive ratio. During the past year our work has 

 been as follows : — 



1. We have compared two rations in one of which corn 

 is prominent, in the other wheat, using beef scraps as the 

 source of animal food, the nutritive ratios being : for the 

 ration including corn, from 1 : 4.25 — 4'.74 ; and in the ra- 

 tion in which wheat is prominent, 1 : 6.25 — 6,45. 



2. We have compared two rations in which respectively 

 corn and wheat are prominent, with milk albumin as the 

 source of animal food. The nutritive ratio of the ration 

 including wheat has been varied from 1 : 4 — 4.48 ; for the 

 ration including corn, from 1 : 4.95 — 6.05. 



3. We have compared tAvo rations in one of which buck- 

 wheat is prominent, in the other corn, with milk albumin 

 as the source of animal food. The nutritive ratio of 

 both these rations has been rather wide, — from about 

 1:5.5 — 6.08. 



The most important points to be noted in connection with 

 the results are as follows : — 



1. In the comparison of wheat with corn, where beef 

 scraps are the source of animal food, the egg production 

 has been good and nearly equal on the two rations, although 

 the hens receiving the wheat ration have been somewhat the 

 most productive. 



2. In the comparison of wheat with corn, with milk 

 albumin as the source of animal food, the egg production 

 has been less satisfactory, and the hens which have received 

 the corn ration have been the more productive. 



