Agricultural Chemistry — Sheep- Feeding and Manure. 321 



measure of the comparative effects of the different foods, it appears, 

 taking either period, that the dry malt with its dust (the produce 

 of 1 lb. of barley), as in pen 2, gives a slightly higher increase 

 than the 1 lb. of dry barley, as in pen 1, but that in both periods, 

 again, the steeped barley of pen 3 gives a better result than the 

 steeped malt and dust of pen 4, and better, also, than either the 

 dry barley of pen 1, or the larger quantity of malt and dust, as in 

 pen 5 ; and it is remarkable, too, than in pen 3, with steeped barley, 

 which on both periods is thus seen to give the best result of the 

 five pens, there was a larger amount of mangolds consumed than 

 in any of the other cases. 



Comparing the steeped malt and dust with the dry malt and 

 dust, we see that the dry gives the best results on the experi- 

 mental period, and the steeped on the entire period : the dis- 

 crepancy is due to the fact of a dissimilar condition of the animals 

 in the two pens during the three weeks prior to the commence- 

 ment of the experimental period — those on the dry malt losing in 

 aggregate weight, whilst those on the steeped took better to their 

 food at first, and did not, therefore, like the others, give afterwards 

 an unnaturally rapid increase. 



The barley and malt were at first both steeped for about 12 or 14 

 hours, but it was thought that the barley at least was not suffi- 

 ciently softened, and therefore the time of soaking was extended 

 to 36 hours or more for both malt and barley. This seemed to 

 increase the relish with which the barley was taken, but the malt 

 was almost entirely refused, and so long as it was thus prepared 

 very few mangolds either were eaten, and within a few days all 

 the sheep were seen to be deteriorating, and one was necessarily 

 removed and afterwards killed. When, however, the short time 

 of steeping was returned to, the animals took their food again, 

 and progressed as well as before. Upon the whole, it may at 

 least be said that there is much less necessity to steep malt than 

 barley; and if the former be improved at all by such treatment, 

 it should be exposed to it for a few hours onlv. The steeping of 

 barley, however, from 30 to 40 hours, has been seen to increase 

 the gross increase in live weight beyond that of the same amount 

 of barley dry, of malt and dust, the produce of the same amount 

 of barley, either dry or steeped, or than the dry malt and dust, 

 the produce of one-fourth more barley. 



These results are, it is admitted, wanting in some respects in 

 that regularity which is calculated to give undoubted confidence 

 in the conclusions to which they lead, and it is possible that the 

 mangolds, contahiing as they do such a very large amount of sac- 

 charine matter, may on this account be somewhat less appropriate 

 as an accompaniment to the malt than to the barley. Upon the 

 whole, however, we see in the facts adduced in reference to this 



vol. x. y 



