148 AGRICULTURAL EXPERIMENT STATION. [Jan. 



The animals were fed a certain weighed quantity of food 

 for fourteen days. The first seven days Avere regarded as 

 a preliminary period. This preliminary time allowed the 

 animals to become accustomed to the new feed, and to elim- 

 inate all the previous foods from the intestines. The animals 

 were fed a so-called maintenance ration, which is a quantity 

 of food sufficient to keep them in good health and condition, 

 without either oainino; or losino; in weight. Durino; the last 

 seven days the fteces were carefully collected and accurately 

 weighed, and an aliquot part — one-tenth — dried daily and 

 preserved for analysis. 



The temperature of the barn, amount of water drank and 

 the amount and specific gravity of the urine were also care- 

 fully noted. 



The food fed was weighed out in advance for the entire 

 period, carefully sampled, moisture determinations made at 

 once, and a sample reserved for complete analysis. The 

 animals were wei<>hed at the beginning and end of each 

 quantitative period. 



Method employed ix Collecting the F.eces and Urine. 



The cut presented in connection with this experiment 

 gives a clear idea of the arrangement. The animals were 

 confined in wooden stalls, forty-two inches long by twenty- 

 four inches wide, raised fourteen inches above the barn 

 floor. 



By means of a light leather harness a rubber bag is 

 securely attached behind, to collect the faeces, and a rubber 

 funnel conducts the urine down into a bottle placed beneath 

 the stall. The animal stands upon cushions of about one 

 and one-half inches in thickness. 



Water is before the animal at all times, contained in a 

 galvanized-iron pan, placed on a bracket, as in figure I. 



The food is given in a large zinc pan, which is made to fit 

 tightly into the stall and can be removed at will (see just 

 below figure 4). 



The faeces were collected twice daily in large glass-stoppered 

 bottles, and every morning one-tenth of the twenty-four 

 hours' collection was dried and preserved. 



