MAl^UAL OF CATTLE-PEEDIl^G. 461 



tlie greatest gain and witli tlie least expenditure of fodder. 

 It is also noticeable that in nearly every case tlie aniniak 

 ate more of the fodder in proportion as its nutritive ratio 

 was narrower. In Period IV. the ration w^ith a nntritiye 

 ratio of 1 : 6, produced a given gain with the least expendi- 

 ture of fodder, although the gain per day was greatest in 

 Lot I., owing to the greater amount of fodder eaten. In 

 Periods V. and VL the advantage is decidedly with the 

 nutritive ratio 1 : 6, both as to the gain made and the ex- 

 penditure of fodder. 



Yery similar results have been obtained by luimerous 

 other observers. In all cases a narrow nutritive ratio 

 during the first few months of feeding has given the best 

 results, wdiile widening the nutritive ratio as the animals 

 grow older has almost always been found advantageous. 

 Thus Ileiden,* in his extensive feeding experiments on 

 pigs, found that while peas and sour milk formed an ex- 

 cellent fattening fodder for pigs up to the age of about 

 four months, much better results were reached after that 

 time by the addition of potatoes to the ration. 



Feeding Standards.— The feeding standards for pigs 

 given in the Appendix are deduced by Wolff from the 

 results of a large mnnber of feeding trials. The narrow 

 nutritive ratio there recommended for young pigs, and its 

 gi-adual widening, are, as we have just s^en, in accord with 

 the results of experiment; the total quantity of fodder 

 eaten is most naturally and simply determined by the 

 appetite of the animal. 



Although these highly nitrogenous rations cause the most 

 rapid gain in w^eight, they appear of questionable advisa- 

 T^ility in so far as the animals are rendered more liable to 



*• '^XJntersticliungen iiber die zweckmassigsbe Ernahrung des Schwei- 

 nes,'' Haimoyer, 1879. Heft II., p. 92 et seq. 



