108 BULLETIN NO. 59. 



DISCUSSION OF RESULTS. 

 WEIGHTS AND GAINS OF SHEEP. 



Table No. i gives the weights and gains of the sheep feed in 

 this test. It will be noticed that these different lots vary in the 

 number of sheep in each, and so comparisons will have to be based 

 on the daily gain and the average gain for each animal. On the 

 average it will be noticed that the wethers gained .205 pounds per 

 day for the sixty-five days of the test. Compared with the year 

 before this is a very slightly larger daily gain. Each wether of 

 lot 5 gained 13.54 pounds and each one of lot 6 gained 13.18 pounds. 

 The wethers weighed an average of 115 pounds at the beginning 

 of the test and 128^/2 pounds at the close, and thus gained on the 

 average 13.36 pounds. Strange to say the ration of j/2 pound of 

 grain per day gave a little the larger gain. At present I can offer 

 no explanations of this rather unexpected result. Further tests will 

 have to be made before drawing any definite conclusions. If later 

 tests should bear out this result it would have a very important 

 bearing upon the practice of feeding in this state. It will be noticed 

 that during the second period, when the sheep were on a full grain 

 ration, they gained nearly i-io of a pound more per day than during 

 the first period, when the smaller grain ration was fed. However, 

 even for this period the sheep fed the small grain ration made the 

 larger daily gains. Lot I and 2, the "poison plant" sheep, were 

 classified, as stated above, according to the grade of the sheep, the 

 lighter sheep being put into one lot and the larger and heavier in 

 the other. There was a difference of 460 pounds -between the two 

 lots. In the 65 days lot i, the stronger sheep, gained 405 pounds, 

 and lot 2, the weaker sheep, gained 427 pounds, or 22 per cent 

 more than the heavier sheep. The average daily gain per sheep 

 was about .2 of a pound, and the average gain per sheep for the 

 65 days was 13 pounds. This, it will be noted, is but very little 

 less on the average than the gains made by the wethers in the same 

 time. In this test the addition of roots to the ration of the lighter 

 sheep seemed to have helped them to miake considerably better gains. 

 It will also be noticed that during the second period, when the full 

 grain ration was given, better gains were made than during 

 the first period. 



Considering, next, the third group, the "locoed" sheep, we find 



