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AGRICULTURAL AND MISCELLANEOUS NOTES, 



The Value of Roots in Cattle Feeding. 



Experiments have been carried out at the County Demon- 

 stration Farm of the Northumberland County Council, Cockle 

 Park, for two winters in succession, for the purpose of comparing 

 swedes, as regards (i) cost, (2) efficiency, with a substitute 

 manufactured from seeds hay, maize meal, and treacle in feeding 

 to cattle. 



These experiments were conducted under the scientific direc- 

 tion of the Agricultural Department of the Durham College 

 of Science, and the results are published in the Annual Report 

 issued by the Education Committee of the County Council. 



Sixteen yearling cattle were used for each experiment ; all 

 the animals had been reared on the farm, had been weighed 

 regularly from birth, and not only were they of the same 

 weight and character when the experiment began, but for the 

 previous six months each lot had made similar progress. In 

 the case of the cattle used in 1 901-2, the average weight did not 

 differ by more than 7 lb. on any weighing day between June 1 5th 

 and November 30th, the day on which the special feeding 

 began. 



Before beginning the experiments the cattle were carefully 

 accustomed to the foods which they were afterwards to 

 consume. 



There was no case of illness. Every animal made good pro- 

 gress. Towards the end of the second experiment one animal 

 was removed, but as nothing was wrong with it the increase 

 made by it to the day of its removal has been recorded. 



In the experiment of 1 900-1, the cattle in Lot 1 received, 

 along with other foods, 56 lb. roots, while the cattle in Lot 2. 

 received only 28 lb. roots and a substitute for the remaining 

 28 lb. In the report on this experiment for 1 900-1, it was 



