Digestion Experiments ll'ith iy ethers. 13 



DIGESTION COEFFICIENTS are the percentages of each con- 

 stituent of a food which are digested. 



NUTRITIVE RATIO is the ratio of the amount of digestible 

 protein to all other digestible organic constituents (carbo- 

 hydrates plus fat x 2.4). The nutritive ratio is spoken of as 

 being wide or narrow. The ratio is narrow as the amount of 

 proteids approach the amounts of all other organic constituents 

 (fat x 2.4) ; in the reverse case it is wide. For example, a 

 ratio of I 13, i. e. } one part of protein to three parts of all other 

 organic constituents (fat x 2.4) is termed a narrow ratio, 

 while I 114 is a wide ratio. It is better to have too narrow a 

 ratio than too wide a one, for reasons already given. 



ORTS is the name given to the portion not eaten. 



DESCRIPTION OF EXPERIMENTS. 



SHEEP USED. 



The experiments described in this bulletin were con- 

 ducted with two high-grade Rambouillet wethers, range reared. 

 Each was three years of age in the spring of 1905. At the 

 beginning of the experiments in the fall of 1904 one wether, 

 "K," weighed 107 pounds and the other, "KK," 121 pounds. 

 The sheep were obtained from the King Brothers' ranch, 

 near Laramie. 



APPARATUS. 



The apparatus used throughout the series of experiments 

 was practically as described in the annual report of the Maine 

 State Agricultural Experiment Station for 1891, pp. 25-28. 

 The sacks were made of canvas, with lining of rubber-coated 

 cloth. The stalls were placed in a room having a cement floor, 

 where there was good drainage. 



