Agricultural Chemistry — Sheep- Feeding and Manure. 313 



amount of meat or manure, is subject to a wide range of mis- 

 calculation, unless special care be taken to avoid it. For our 

 present purpose we shall assume the figures in the second division 

 of the several Tables to be correct, though, as will be seen when 

 we come to the question of the manure produced, some further 

 corrections may require to be made, which, however, are unim- 

 portant just now. 



Looking to Table 2, and excluding the results of the 4th pen, 

 wherein all the animals lost weight, we find that upon this insuf- 

 ficient diet of turnips only, there were of them 22,260 lbs., or 

 about 10 tons, containing 1757 lbs. of dry organic matter, 140 J 

 lbs. of mineral matter, and 37i lbs. of nitrogen, consumed to pro- 

 duce 95 lbs. increase in live weight, which may be estimated to 

 contain about 3 lbs. of nitrogen. This result, as far as regards 

 the consumption of and produce by nitrogen, is as favourable as 

 that of the second series, wherein the amount of dry substance 

 in the food consumed was in excess rather than in defect, as in 

 the present instance : they are, however, less favourable than that 

 of series 1. 



Turning to Table 3, we see that the average weekly consump- 

 tion to 100 lbs. live weight of animal was about cwt., there 

 being, however, a smaller quantity consumed in pen 4, the roots 

 in that case being more unripe than in any of the other pens. The 

 comparisons will, however, he brought more clearly to view in 

 the column of dry-organic-matter consumed. 



Thus we have to each 100 lbs. live weight, 14-i- lbs. in pen 1, 

 13 lbs. in pen 2, 12i in pen 3, and only ll^lbs. in pen 4, of dry- 

 organic-matter consumed weekly; and when we take into con- 

 sideration the comparative qualities of the several lots of turnips, 

 the relation of these quantities to each other would seem to be 

 just such as might have been anticipated, and to offer further in- 

 dication of the fact, that consumption, to a great extent, is regulated 

 by a demand for available non-nitrogenous organic constituents of 

 food. The highest amount of dry-organic-matter consumed was in 

 pen 1, where the turnips were too far grown, and such as are usually 

 termed pithy ; and it is probable, therefore, that the amount of 

 matters strictly applicable as food to the animal was less than in 

 pen 2, where the roots were less fully grown. In pen 3 there is a 

 less amount of dry-organic-matter consumed than in the former 

 ones, though it will be seen that the quantity of fresh roots was 

 larger in this than in any of the other cases ; and it is probable 

 that, independently of the defective nutritive quality of these tur- 

 nips arising from their lower state of maturity, the large amount of 

 water necessarily swallowed with the food, would put some check 

 upon the quantity eaten, and thereby prevent the supply to the 

 animals of as much as would provide the amount required for 



