I909-] Summary of Agricultural Experiments. 663 



Feeding of Cattle and Pigs (Univ. Coll. of Wales, Aberystwyth, 

 Rept. on Expts., 1907-8). — The object of the experiment with cattle was 

 to compare the value for fattening purposes of moderate and large 

 quantities of concentrated food. A set of eight Welsh black cattle, and 

 another of six Shorthorns, were divided into two lots each, Lot I. in 

 each case being fed on the following daily ration per head : — 5 lb. 

 chopped straw, 10 lb. hay, 50 lb. roots, 3 lb. of Bombay and Egyptian 

 undecorticated cotton cake in equal proportions, and 3 lb. barley meal ; 

 Lot II. received the same quantities of straw, hay, and roots, with 5 lb. 

 of the mixed cake and 5 lb. of barley meal. The former ration cost 

 55. Sd. per head per week, and the latter ys. id. 



In the case of the two-year-old Welsh cattle, Lot I. showed an 

 average gain in four months of 1 cwt. 42 lb., while Lot II. gained 

 1 cwt. 36 lb. The yearling Shorthorns gained 1 cwt. 38 lb. (Lot I.), 

 and 1 cwt. 39 lb. (Lot II.) in three months. The results, therefore, 

 from the two lots were practically identical in each case, Lot I. doing 

 just as well on 6 pounds of concentrated food as Lot II. on 10 pounds. 

 When allowance is made for the cost of the food and the manurial value, 

 Lot I. of the Welsh cattle showed a profit of 11s. 2d., and Lot II. a 

 loss of 14s. nd. per head. In the case of the Shorthorns there was 

 a profit of 445. gd. and 265. qd. per head respectively. 



These experiments with two different sets of cattle are of consider- 

 able interest, and show, as was pointed out in the experiments at Wye 

 referred to above, that it is a mistake to assume that cattle will do 

 better on a heavy ration than on a moderate one. 



In the experiments with pigs, cooked and uncooked potatoes were 

 compared, to ascertain if the trouble and expense of cooking potatoes 

 for young pigs were justified by the better results obtained. Two tests 

 lasting from 6 to 8 weeks each were made, one with pigs 8 weeks 

 old, and the other with pigs 10 weeks old. The daily rations were 2| lb. 

 potatoes and 2 lb. mixed barley and maize meal, in one case the potatoes 

 being cooked, and in the other case merely pulped in their raw state. 

 The total increase in the first experiment was 154 lb. with cooked, and 

 123 lb. with uncooked potatoes ; in the second experiment it was 127 lb. 

 and 108 lb. respectively. If a deduction of is. per week is made for 

 the cost of cooking, the advantage in the first experiment would be 

 only is. $d., or 3^. per pig, while in the second experiment the value 

 would be the same in both cases. 



With pigs which are intended for the butcher at about 4 months 

 old it may be said, therefore, that cooked potatoes give, as a general 

 rule, a greater increase in live weight than uncooked ones, but that 

 when allowance is made for the cost and trouble of cooking it may 

 be more profitable to use uncooked potatoes. In any case the difference 

 between the two methods of feeding may be so small as to be almost 

 negligible. 



Breeding of Sheep (Univ. Coll. of N. Wales, Bangor, Bull. I., 

 1908). — These breeding experiments in the production of cross-bred 

 lambs from Welsh mountain ewes have been in progress since 1900. 

 In 1908 125 draft ewes were divided into five lots and mated with 

 Southdown, Wiltshire, Dorset Horned, Ryeland, and Kerry Hill rams. 

 The weights of the lambs produced, and the dates when they were sold 

 are given in the bulletin. Professor Winter observes that the most 



