12 BULLETIN 378, U. S. DEPAETMENT OF AGEICULTUEE. 



stituted for fish meal. The results of the experiment, which is de- 

 signed to run for one year, are reported by Mr. Alfred R. Lee for a 

 period of 32 weeks, as follows : 



The mash feci consisted of one part each of bran, middlings, and fisli meal 

 and two parts of corn meal. In the check ration the fish meal was replaced by 

 beef scrap. In addition, in each case a grain ration of equal parts of corn, 

 wheat, and oats was fed. The beef scrap cost .$53 per ton and was guaranteed 

 to contain from 50 to 55 per cent of protein. The price for fish meal used in 

 the calculation of the comparative costs was $46 per ton, a price recently quoted 

 for a commercial article. 



The yield of eggs from the pen fed on the ration containing fish meal averaged 

 113.1 per hen, at a cost of 7.1 cents per dozen and with a food consumption of 

 44.1 pounds per hen. The average number of eggs per hen in the pen fed on 

 the beef -scrap ration was 128.4, at a cost of 7.8 cents per dozen and with 55.7 

 pounds of food eaten. Estimating the value of the eggs at 30 cents per dozen, 

 the profit from the pen fed on beef scrap would exceed that of the pen on fish 

 meal by $2.48, or about 14 cents per hen, on account of the greater production 

 in the former pen. At a price slightly under that quoted, fish meal would have 

 been as profitable as beef scrap. 



At the present time the hens have eaten the beef scrap a little more freely 

 and have given a slightly greater egg yield. No differences were noted in regard 

 to size or flavor of the eggs or the health and weight of the fowls. 



Similajr results in regard to freedom from taint of fish in eggs were 

 obtained by a manufacturer of poultry feeds who tested one of the 

 experimental lots of meal prepared from the sardine waste. This 

 particular lot of meal contained 17.51 per cent of fat and had no 

 deleterious effect on the quality of the eggs. 



PIGS. 



A portion of the meal as used for feeding to cows and in com- 

 pounding the ration fed to the poultry, was compared with tankage 

 as a supplementary feeding stuff for growing and fattening pigs. 

 This experiment was conducted by Mr. F. G. Ashbrook of the 

 Animal Husbandry Division, Bureau of Animal Industry, who 

 makes the following report of the work: 



The experiment was conducted to determine the comparative values of fish 

 meal and tankage as supplements in a ration for growing and fattening pigs. 



The pigs used in this work were grade Berkshires, averaging 52.3 pounds 

 per head when the experiment started. They were as uniform in size, age, 

 and breeding as it was possible to obtain. 



For purposes of calculation the feeds used were estimated to cost as follows : 

 Corn, 70 cents per bushel, plus $2 per ton for grinding, making $27 



per ton. ^ 



White middlings, $30 per ton. 



Digester tankage (60 per cent protein), $50 per ton. 

 Fish meal, $85 per ton. 

 It should not be assumed that this price is to establish arbitrarily a price 

 for fish meal. As dried fish products have so largely been sold as fertilizers, 

 it was thought that the price would to some extent be governed by the condition 

 of the fertilizer market. 



