THE MAINE EXPERIMENT STATION. 59 



(2) The apparent value of potatoes is not materially increased 

 by boiling. 



(3) In six feeding- periods comparing wide and narrow 

 rations, (one having a nutritive ratio of 1 : 9.2 and the other a 

 ratio of 1 : 5.5 ) it took nearly one-half more food to produce a 

 pound of growth with the wide ration than with the narrow. 

 Rations with nutritive ratio of 1 : 6, 1 : 5.6, and 1 : 3.6, 1 : 4.4 were 

 compared. The two latter rations produced no better growth 

 than the two former, showing that the added protein of the 

 very narrow rations was not advantageous. 



(4) The nitrogenous rations proved to be best not only for 

 growth but for the fattening period. A mixture of pea meal 

 or gluten meal and corn meal was much more efficient than corn 

 meal alone for fattening. 



(5) In the case of young pigs the animal food (skimmed 

 milk) was superior to the grains, but with the older animals the 

 amount of digestible nutrients seemed to be the measure of 

 value. 



(6) The amount of water taken with the food appeared to 

 have no particular effect on the growth. 



(7) The digestible food consumed for a pound of growth 

 was as follows : Cheshires, 2.88 lbs ; Poland China, 2.73 lbs ; 

 Yorkshire, 2.55 lbs ; Chester white, 2.5 lbs ; Berkshires, 2.45. 



In the early stages of the experiment much less food was 

 required for a pound of growth than in the later. Berkshire 

 and Chester whites made a larger part of their growth during 

 the first three months. 



DIGESTION EXPERIMENTS WITH SHEEP. 



Since the organization of the Station, digestion experiments 

 with sheep have formed a prominent feature of its work. The 

 experiments have been largely with the forage crops, grown in 

 this State, although several mill products have been tested with 

 other work. Seventy-one different digestion experiments with 

 native or cultivated hays or grasses ; 24 experiments with dry 

 corn fodder; 20 experiments with silage corn; 10 experiments 

 with roots and 20 with mill products have been made. The 

 summary of the results of the digestion experiments then com- 

 pleted is given in the annual report of this Station for 1897. 



