1909.] Summary of Agricultural Experiments. 661 



A similar trial was carried out with sheep, thirty mountain wether 

 lambs being selected and divided into two lots of fifteen each. Thirteen 

 lb. of swedes and £ lb. of clover hay per head were given daily to both 

 lots, while in addition Lot L received J lb. decorticated cotton cake and 

 I lb. split maize per head, and Lot. II. J lb. undecorticated cotton cake, 

 i lb. linseed cake, and J lb. split maize. The experiment lasted from 

 December 9th to February 19th. 



The result was very similar to that of the cattle-feeding experiment. 

 The fifteen lambs in Lot L, which were fed on decorticated cake, showed* 

 a total gain in weight of 12 lb. more than the lambs in Lot II. , which 

 was equal to a net gain of 15. 5^. after deducting the extra cost of 

 the cake. 



Feeding Experiments with Cattle and Sheep (Northumberland Educ. 

 Committee, Bull. 12). — A review of these experiments^ in which the 

 equivalent feeding value of different foods was tested, was published in 

 this Journal for March, 1909, p. 931. 



Feeding of Cattle, Sheep, and Pigs (Journ. South-Eastern Agric. 

 Coll., No. 17, 1908). — An experiment was carried out with cattle to 

 investigate the possibility of replacing roots in a fattening ration by 

 one of the treacle foods, in this case Molascuit, which contains 45 per 

 cent, of sugar, with sugar-cane residue as the absorbent material. Ten 

 bullocks of five different breeds were divided into two lots, and fed 

 with linseed cake, Bombay cotton cake, rice meal, chaffed straw, and 

 hay, in quantities varying according to their age, and Lot I. received 

 35 lb. or more of roots daily, while the other five received 2\ lb. or 

 more of Molascuit, i.e., at the rate of 1 lb. instead of 14 lb. of roots, 

 this being the relative value of the two foods. The experiment requires 

 corroboration, as two of the animals receiving Molascuit were bad doers, 

 but it indicates that roots cannot economically be replaced by Molascuit 

 during the whole feeding period. Molascuit seemed to give very good 

 results during the first two months of the feeding period, but in 

 "finishing off" the roots apparently produced a firmer and less watery 

 beef. 



A record is also given of the daily gains in live weight of the cattle 

 and sheep kept on the College farm. In connection with the former 

 it is noted that five fattening cattle, although given a more expensive 

 ration than those in the above-mentioned experiment, made a smaller 

 gain in live weight. Attention is drawn to the importance of economy 

 in this respect, so as to avoid giving the animals more cake and meal 

 than they can profitably utilise, more especially when the remainder 

 of the diet, grass or hay, is naturally good. 



An experiment in calf feeding was undertaken to see whether cotton- 

 seed oil could be used as a cream substitute, to be used with separated 

 milk. This oil is cheaper than cod-liver oil, and is free from objection- 

 able odour. One lot of calves, eight weeks old, received nine quarts 

 of new milk daily, which was gradually decreased by substituting linseed 

 cake gruel, until the fourth week, when they were receiving four quarts 

 of new milk daily. The second lot received nine quarts of separated 

 milk after the first week, with from one and a half to three table- 

 spoonfuls of cottonseed oil. Hay and ground linseed cake were also 

 fed to all the calves. The experiment lasted 5J weeks, and the live 



