Agincultural Cliemistry. — Pig Feeding. 



529 



matter had been otherwise ; and certainly, in no way consistent 

 with the view, that the increase of the fattening animal bears any 

 direct relationship to the supplies in its food of the nitrogenous 

 or plastic constituents. 



Taking the results of each Series separately ; — we may first call 

 attention to Table XXV., which refers to the first Series of 

 12 pens. If Ave again exclude pens 9, 10, and 11 from the 

 comparison — and certainly the foods in those pens could not be 

 called fattening foods — we see, that amongst the other nine, the 

 amounts of non-nitrogenous substance consumed to produce 

 100 lbs. increase in live weight, ranged from 275^ lbs, to 377^ lbs. ; 

 and that in seven of the pens the range was only from 309 lbs. to 

 377^ lbs. In pens 1 and 2, where the food contained so large a 

 proportion of nitrogenous substance, we see that the amounts of 

 non-nitrogenous substance consumed to produce a given amount 

 of increase, was indeed comparatively very small. But, if we 

 look to the column of total dry organic matter, we shall find that 

 the amount of this required to produce a given amount of in- 

 crease was greater in these two pens than in several cases in the 

 Series where the food contained little more than half as much 

 nitrogenous substance. The large proportions of nitrogenous 

 substance in the foods of pens 1 and 2, would seem therefore, 

 not to have really economised material in the production of gross 

 increase — but only to have substituted an even somewhat smaller 

 amount of non-nitrogenous constituents in that process ; whilst, 

 as we have said, there is reason to believe, that a given amount 

 of increase obtained from the more non-nitrogenous diets, contains 

 more fat, and with this a larger proportion of real dry substance. 



Again, if we look down the column of total dry organic 

 substance consumed to produce a given amount of increase, we 

 find, that the range for the nine pens is from 382 lbs. in pen 8, 

 to 533 lbs. in pen 3 ; but of this comparatively large amount of 

 total organic substance consumed in pen 3, to produce 100 lbs. 

 of increase, a larger proportion was nitrogenous substance than 

 in any other case of the nine pens. In this pen too, wdth this 

 very large amount of nitrogenous substance, consumed to produce 

 a given amount of increase, there was indeed the minimum 

 amount in the Series of ?2W2-nitrogenous substance, consumed 

 weekly 'per 100 lbs. live iceig/it. Hence, it would seem, that the 

 pigs had been pushed to the consumption of a larger amount of 

 nitrogenous substance than they required, or could turn to any 

 useful account, in order to secure a sufficiency of the non- 

 nitrogenous substances, which existed in the food in such com- 

 paratively small proportion. 



Again, in the pen in which there was the next largest amount 

 of total organic substance, consumed to produce a given amount 



