47 



In the condition in which they were fed, the soy bean meal con- 

 tained 11.61 per cent of water, the meat meal 13.68 per cent. 



In the second experiment linseed and cotton seed meals in equal 

 quantities were used as the vegetable substitute for animal foods. 



In both experiments the fowls received a variety of foods, but the 

 nutritive ratio was kept substantially the same for the two pens of 

 fowls under comparison. In the first experiment the nutritive ratio 

 was I to 4)4, in the second experiment it was i to 4.7. The result 

 in both experiments was decidedly in favor of the animal food. The 

 fowls receiving this food produced many more eggs than those receiv- 

 ing vegetable food and at the close of the experiment were in much 

 better condition than the latter. 



W. P. \A"heeler* has carried out similar experiments and reports 

 as follows : Rations were compared "which contained practically 

 the same proportions of the ordinarily considered groups of nutri- 

 ents, but different amounts of mineral matter," the one being wholly 

 vegetable, and the other, with the higher ash, containing some form 

 of animal food. " For laying hens the rations containing animal 

 food proved superior to others in which all the organic matter was 

 derived from vegetable sources. The vegetable food ration, sup- 

 plemented by bone ash proved equally efficient for limited periods * 

 * * * Ifappears also that while a cheaper vegetable food ration 

 can sometimes be made to equal or surpass in efficiency a ration con- 

 taining animal food by supplementing it with suitable mineral matter, 

 there are plain limitations to its economical use. For laying hens 

 some animal food appears necessary for continued good results." 



Judging from our own results and from those obtained by Wheeler, 

 it seems safe to conclude that animal albuminoids as measured by 

 production possess a much higher degree of efficiency than those 

 derived from vegetable materials. 



V. Animal Meal vs. Cur Bone for Egg Production. 



Four of the five experiments comparing these two sources of ani- 

 mal food were carried out during the winter periods, one in summer. 

 The rations fed with minor variations essential in order to secure 

 the same nutritive ratio for the two lots of fowls compared were in 

 general similar. The nutritive ratio varied in different experiments 

 from I to 3.9, to I to 5. The health of the fowls receiving 



* New York State Experiment Station Bulletin 171. 



