HAKUAL OF OATTLE-FEEBING. 383 



bility and desirability of this method o£ feeding are matters 

 to be decided by practical experience, while the quebtiou 

 of the sufficiency of Ksuch a ration can be finally settled 

 only by exact scientific experiments. 



§ 2. Sheep. 



Sheep need relatively more Food than Cattle. — Tt 

 is to be assmned a priori that the quantity of nutriment in 

 the maintenance fodder of sheep nuist be greater than in 

 that of oxen. A cerfcxin quantity of protein is demanded 

 for the growth of wool, and the inore active temperament 

 and greater amount of movement of these animals, even 

 in the stall, increases the consumption of the non-nitro- 

 genous nutrients. Moreover, on account of their smaller 

 size, it would seem that the loss of heat by radiation mtist 

 be relatively greater. Under these circumstances, it might, 

 perhaps, have been expected that the difference between 

 the two wo\ild be greater than it has been foimd to be. 

 That it is not may be explained, however, by their thick 

 coat of wool, which hinders the radiation of heat, and per- 

 haps also the evaporation from tlie skin, so decreasing the 

 demand for heat-producing materials. It is a well-ascer- 

 tained fact that goats, for example, under the same cir- 

 cumstances and with the same live-weight, require more 

 fodder th^n sheep. 



Experiments in Weende. — Experiments on the main- 

 tenance feeding of sheep have also been made by Hemxe- 

 berg,* in Weende, and in them not only the *'sw$ibl(|^^ 

 excretions, but also the products of respiration, vs^e^# ^$^ 

 rately determined ; so tiiat the effects of the fee^dSftfi w$ 



* Neue Baifcr%e, ©tc, 1S71. 



