36 



Scientific Proceedings, Royal Dublin Society. 



the quantity of roots could not be increased much further without the 

 efficiency of the whole ration being depressed. For this there are three, 

 perhaps more, possible reasons : th-at the bullc of the whole ration gets 

 beyond the manipulative capacity of the stomach, and that energy is lost, 

 first, in heating up the water in the roots, and, second, in afterwards elimi- 

 nating it from the system. 



It will also be noticed, in the rations containing less than 80 pounds 

 of roots, that tlie less efficient rations frequently contain straw alone, or more 

 straw than hay, while the quantities of these two long fodders are as 

 frequently reversed in the more efficient rations. It might be suggested, 

 therefore, that a ration like the following might,, with 9-cwt. cattle, be a 

 starting-point from which to discover still more efficient rations : — 



Oat straw, 4 lbs., 

 Hay, 10 lbs.. 



Mangels, 70 lbs., 

 Concentrates, 



1 food-unit. 



7 

 4 



The following are the figures, as taken from Professor Nils Hansson's 

 " Utfodringslara," pviblished in 1916, by which the various foods have been 

 divided in order to reduce them to their equivalent in barley : — 



Hay, . . 2-51 



Oat straw, . . 4 



Barley straw, . 4 



Wheat straw, . 5 



Potatoes, . . 4 



Carrots, . . 8 



Swedes, . . 9 



Mangels, . . 10 



Turnips, . . 12'5 



Linseed, . . -6 



Earthnut cake, . '8 



Sesame cake, . '8 

 Decorticated cotton cake, "85 



Linseed cake, . . '9 



Eape cake, . . '95 



Gluten feed, . . -95 



Maize or Indian meal, '95 



Beans, . . 1 



Wheat, . . 1 



Barley bran, . . 1'2 



Oats, . . 1-2 



Dried grains, , . I'o 



Molasses, . . 1'3 



Undeeorticated cotton cake, 1'4 



Barley, . . 1 



' In a few cases hay is called clover hay. The figure by which pure clover hay should 

 be divided is 2'2, but as grass and clover hay is usually called clover hay, the figure 2'5 

 has been used in all cases. 



