AGRICULTURAL EXPERIMENT STATION. 101 



The position of the writer in the matter' of feeding formulas is 

 this : The fact thai protein has important and peculiar functions 

 in the nutrition of animals that do not pertain to any other class 

 of nutrients demands that a certain proportion of it shall be pres- 

 ent in a ration, in order that growth shall not be restricted because 

 of a lack of special building material. It is probable that few 

 cases occur where it would not be profitable to supplv protein to 

 this extent. Whether more than this shall be fed, so that the 

 albuminoids unnecessarily take the place of carbohydrates, is 

 a matter that must be decided by the relative cost of different 

 classes of foods. 



The kelative value of animal and vegetable protein. 

 Can we substitute nitrogenous vegetable foods, like pea 

 meal or gluten meal, for skimmed milk, with equally 

 good results? 



The eflSciency of skimmed milk as food for swine has become 

 proverbial. It is a nitrogenous food, its constituents are wholly 

 digestible, or practically so, and it serves admirably as a supple- 

 ment of the grain and other vegetable foods that are fed to swine. 

 It is a question of some importance whether the farmer,, who has 

 no skimmed milk, or an insufficient supply, can fill its place with 

 nitrogenous vegetable foods such as his farm or the market affords. 



The verdict of these experiments is that it is not a question of 

 skimmed milk, but of protein, and that skimmed milk can be suc- 

 cessfully replaced by pea meal furnishing an equal quantity of 

 digestible material. 



In two instances pea meal was substituted for skimmed milk 

 without any decrease in the rate of gain, and in one instance an 

 amount of digestible matter from pea meal was fed against the 

 same quantity from skimmed milk with practically equivalent 

 results. 



When the pigs of Lot 1 and 2 reached the age of eight months 

 they were eating thirty pounds of skimmed milk and eleven and 

 one-fourth pounds of corn meal. This ration was exchanged for 

 one made up of five pounds of pea meal and ten pounds corn meal- 

 The milk and meal ration contained 10 lbs. of digestible matter 

 and caused a gain of 4.14 lbs. daily, while the latter ration supplied 

 11 lbs. digestible substance, the gain being 4.27 lbs. for the suc- 

 ceeding thirty days. 



A similar exchange was made with animals of Lots 5 and 6, 



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