XIV. FOODS AND FEEDING 307 



showed no advantage or disadvantage between excessive quantities of 

 water and an ad libitum supply. On the other hand, experiments 

 conducted at the Yorkshire College Farm at Garforth in the early 

 part of 1900 showed a decided advantage in curtailing the water 

 supplied to fattening pigs. Two pens of six pigs each were fed with 

 a mixture of equal weights of barley meal and " sharps ". In one 

 case the mixture was soaked for some days in four times its weight of 

 water, while in the other only twice its weight of water was used. 

 The former was fed to the pigs in a sloppy condition, the latter was of 

 the consistency of oat-meal porridge. Both lots were allowed as 

 much of the food as they would eat, and the animals receiving the 

 drier food had access to a water trough. In eight weeks the pen 

 getting the wetter food increased by 334 lb., while the other gained 

 458 lb. (live weights). The pigs of the former consumed 1904 lb. 

 of food, while those of the latter ate 2254 lb. The proportions of 

 food consumed to weight gained were 



In those getting much water ...... 5-7 



little 4-9 



The pigs fed on the drier food thus made 124 lb. more increase in 

 live weight and yielded about 102 lb. more pork, while each pound 

 of increase in live weight was obtained by the expenditure of 8 lb. 

 of food less than with the other animals. The extra food cost about 

 19s., but the value of the increased quantity of -pork was about 42s. 6d., 

 leaving a net gain of 23s. 6d. for the pen receiving the drier food. 



Money Value of the Constituents of Foodstuffs. Attempts 

 have been made to fix money values to the albuminoids, carbohydrates 

 and fat present in foodstuffs, so as to permit of the calculation of the 

 value of a food from the results of its analysis, as has been done in the 

 case of manures (vide Chap. IX). 



The results of these attempts have not been entirely satisfactory, 

 nor indeed can they be expected to be, since many of the most valuable 

 properties of foodstuffs, e.g., flavour or palatability, cannot satisfactorily 

 be expressed quantitatively. Samples of food of desirable flavour and 

 much relished by animals may often command a price much higher 

 than could be deduced from their composition. 



Wolff, long ago, deduced the ratios of the values of digestible 

 carbohydrates, fats and protein in many concentrated foodstuffs at 

 1:3: 2-4. 



Konig gave 1 : 2-9 : 2-7, while in various States of America most 

 discordant values were obtained, possibly owing to great local varia- 

 tions in prices. 



In 1891 a long paper was read before the Surveyors' Institute on 

 the subject by Kinch. 1 He points out that the physiological ratio of 

 values of protein to carbohydrates would be about 6 : 1, since a 

 ration having an albuminoid ratio of 1 : 6 is most generally suitable 

 for feeding. 



By considering a large number of foodstuffs and taking into ac- 

 count their relative consumption, he arrives at the ratio of 1 : 2*5 : 2*5 



Abstract in Jour. Soc. Chem. Ind., 1892, 701. 



