March, 1936] Agricultural Research in N. H. ^ 5 



104,730 calories and the digestihle crude protein is 7.87 per cent of the 

 weight of the hay. {E. G. Rifcinaii and F. G. Benedict — Puniell Fund.) 



Physiological Investigations of Dairy Cows 



The outstanding result of this work over a period of five years has been 

 the unexpected lability of the dairy cow's basal metabolism. As expressed 

 on the comparative basis of 500 kilograms of body weight per 24 hours and 

 in muscular repose (ie., lying), the variation found in the same individual 

 ranges from 10 percent with a dry cow (measured only twice) to 90 percent 

 with two dry cows measured over a period of several years. It would seem 

 in view of this new information that the concept of constanc}^ in the basal 

 metabolism of animals which has prevailed among physiologists in general 

 for so many years, must of necessity be revised. The possibility should be 

 recognized that great changes in the endogenous metabolism may take place 

 even within a relatively short time without concurrent changes in body 

 weight. {E. G. Ritsman and F. G. Benedict — Purnell Fund.) 



Complete Balance Experiments with Dairy Cows 



Five cows (two Holsteins and three Jerseys) were used in this work, 

 feeding them for three months on concentrates only. In a series with all five 

 cows only corn meal was fed, and in another a mixture of four parts linseed 

 oil meal mixed with one part of bran. The amount fed was approximately 

 maintenance. The animals ceased rumination within a week from the time 

 that hay was left out of the ration, but with the exception of one animal 

 which tended to bloat on corn meal no trouble occurred. The digestibility 

 of energy ranged between 80 and 84 percent and the digestibility of crude 

 protein between 60 and 70 percent. It was demonstrated that the stimulus 

 to rumination is apparently of a purely mechanical nature since one of these 

 cows when fed alfalfa ground to a meal ceased to ruminate as quickly as 

 when she was fed nothing but corn meal. {E. G. Ritcniau and F. G. Bene- 

 dict — Purnell Fund.) 



Nutrition of Horse, Pig and Goat 



Five experiments were carried out to determine the methane production 

 of the horse, pig and goat. The pig subsists primarily on concentrates and 

 tubers and produces no methane. When fed on hay alone the goat produces 

 about the same amount relative to total energy as do cows, and the horse 

 produces about half as much. 



The comparative study of the basal metabolism of the goat begun two 

 years ago has been completed and the results are being prepared for publica- 

 tion. They show that the adult female goat has a measurably low-er basal 

 metabolism than the female sheep, and young goats have a lower metabolism 

 than lambs of similar age. (E. G. Ritcnwn and F. G. Benedict — Adams 

 Fund. ) 



Sheep Breeding Project 



Progress in the development of multinippled sheep and improvement of 

 milk yield of ewes may be observed from the fact that every animal in the 

 flock now has four or more nipples. In the first generation hybrid in which 

 four nipples appeared two of these were usually rudimentary. The increase 



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