1905.] Sheep and Cattle Feeding. 



545 



experiment. The difference between it and Bombay cotton- 

 cake at £4 12s. 6d. was £1 6s. on a consumption of 15 cwt. of 

 each feeding-stuff along with about 13 tons of turnips, live- 

 weight increase being produced by the Bombay cotton-cake at 

 £1 3s. id. per cwt, against £1 6s. yd. by the Egyptian. The 

 superiority of the Bombay cotton-cake over the Egyptian 

 cotton-cake is also shown in the cattle-feeding experiment 

 referred to below. 



In every case, however, comparison of the lots which received 

 concentrated feeding-stuffs with the one fed on turnips and hay 

 alone shows that a profit resulted from the use of the former 



The use of concentrated feeding-stuffs effected no saving in 

 the consumption of turnips. In fact, it seems in some cases to 

 have stimulated the appetites of the sheep for more turnips. 



On the whole these experiments show that in the winter 

 feeding of half-bred hoggets, a gross outlay of about £1 12s. 

 for food, or when manurial residue is deducted, of £1 5s, is re- 

 quired for every hundredweight of increase in live weight. 

 This calculation allows 10s. per ton for turnips and £3 10s. for 

 hay. 



Mr. W. Bruce, in reporting on these experiments, observes 

 that it seems a doubtful policy to force on sheep of this class 

 by increasing the allowance of concentrated feeding-stuff much 

 beyond f lb. per day, though with the present demand for light 

 sheep the feeding should commence sufficiently early, and be 

 controlled so as to have the sheep fat before they are too 

 heavy. 



He adds that a mixture of two or more feeding-stuffs is likely 

 to do better than one. A mixture of Bombay cotton-cake and 

 linseed-cake seems eminently suitable as a concentrated food 

 for the winter feeding of hoggets. At the commencement the 

 Bombay cotton-cake should either predominate or be used 

 alone, but later a gradual change should be made to a mixture 

 of equal parts of both feeding-stuffs. The results obtained last 

 winter with another lot of about 200 sheep fed experimentally, 

 under the auspices of the College, point to the same conclusion. 

 These experiments indicate that this will be true generally, so 

 long as Bombay cotton-cake can be bought at less or even the 

 same price per unit as dried grain, decorticated cotton-cake, and 



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