176 



MxVNUAL OF OATTLE-Jbl^]EDma 



era experiments, as in all tlie others, but wlietlier the ani- 

 mals were albo in equilibrium as to carl)on or whether the 

 fat of the body took part in the milk-production, as 

 is so often the ease with milk cows, even when well fed, 

 could only have been decided with certainty by the help 

 of a respiration apparatus. 



EjcperimenU on Fattening, — Something more definite 

 as to the source of animal fat may perhaps be learned 

 from the results of fattening experiments on domestic 

 animals, if we at the same time consider that, according to 

 the experiments of Lawes and Grilbert in England (see 

 p. 9), the increase of the live weight in fattening has the 

 following composition in 100 parts: 



Swine. 



Sheep 



Oxen , 



Arerage 



Ash, 

 06 



1.47 



1.45 



Protein 



0.44 



7.13 

 7.69 



"^7.53" 



71 5 

 70.4 

 06 2 



m7% 



Total 

 dry matter. 



78 



79 9 

 75 4 

 75.6 



Water, 



23.0 

 20.1 

 34.6 



Of late years a large number of fattening experiments 

 have been executed at the various Ex'periment Stations, 

 especially with sheep. In these experiments the fodder 

 has been analyzed according to the same methods, the ac- 

 tual increase of weighj; determined as accurately as possi- 

 ble, and the duration of the experiments made sufficiently 

 long (from two and one-half to fully three months) to nul- 

 lify, to a large extent, the effects of any temporary varia- 

 tions of the live-weight whicli might occur. 



If, now, in these experiments, we assume that, according 

 to Lawes & Gilbert's results, Y0.4r per cent, of the gain 



