XIV. EXPERIMENTS ON THE FEEDING OF ANIMALS. 



The investigations which have been conducted under 

 this head may be conveniently described to a great 

 extent in the terms in which they are referred to in 

 the " Memoranda" 



Experiments with the animals of the farm were com- 

 menced early in 1847, and have been continued, at 

 intervals, up to the present time. 



The following points have been investigated : 



1. The amount of food, and of its several constituents, 

 consumed in relation to a given live-weight of animal 

 within a given time. 



2. The amount of food, and of its several constituents, 

 consumed to produce a given amount of increase in live- 

 weight. 



3. The proportion, and relative development, of the 

 different organs or parts, of different animals. 



4. The proximate and ultimate composition of the 

 animals, in different conditions as to age and fatness, 

 and the probable composition of their increase in live- 

 weight during the fattening process. 



5. The composition of the solid and liquid excreta 

 (the manure), in relation to that of the food consumed. 



6. The loss or expenditure of constituents by respira- 

 tion and the cutaneous exhalations that is, in the 

 mere sustenance of the living meat- and manure-making 

 machine. 



7. The influence of different descriptions of food, on 

 the quantity and the quality of the milk yielded by the 

 cow. 



The general plan of experimenting was as follows : 

 To provide data as to the amount of food, or of it.s 

 several constituents, consumed in relation to a given 

 live-weight of animal within a given time, and to pro- 

 duce a given amount of increase in live -weight, several 

 hundred animals oxen, sheep, and pigs have been 

 experimented upon. Selected lots of animals were 

 supplied, for many weeks or for months consecutively, 

 with weighed quantities of foods, selected and allotted 



