BULLETIN No. 216. 



DEPARTMENT OF CHEMISTRY. 



DIGESTION EXPERIMENTS WITH CATTLE FEEDS. 



BY J. B. LINDSEY, C. L. BEALS, P. H. SMITH AND J. G. ARCHIBALD.' 



Introduction. 



The digestion experiments here reported cover a period of four years, the work 

 commencing annually about November 1 and extending through to mid-April 

 or thereabouts. Methods followed in conducting the tests are given elsewhere. '- 



Each digestion period extended over sixteen days, nine of which were preliminary 

 (five in ordinary pens and four in the digestion stall), the last seven constituting 

 the actual trial during which the feces were collected. The animals were grade 

 sheep, as nearly as possible of the same age and weight. The basal ration was 

 either English hay, or English hay and gluten feed. Ten grams of salt were fed 

 daily and water ad libitum. 



Discussion of Results. 



A summary of the coefficients of digestibility is here presented, together with a 

 brief discussion of the same. 



English Hay. 



' Mr. Beals had immediate supervision of the experiments and did some of the analytical work. Mr. Smith, 

 assisted by Miss E. M. Bradley, did the larger part of the analytical work. The tabulations were made by Mr. 

 Archibald. The work at the feeding barn was done by Mr. J. R. Alcock. 



= Mass. Agr. Expt. Sta., llth Ann. Rpt., pp. 146-149, 1893. 



3 This lot of hay is the same as was fed in Series XXII, periods 8-17, coefficients of which are published in 

 Mass. Agr. Expt. Sta. Bui. 181, p. 307. 



