Sheep Feeding Experiments. 



157 



increased 20 lb. per head or more, four remained almost 

 stationary, and two actually lost weight. That was an 

 extreme case. The mixture was the poorest feeding stuff of 

 all, and it was found that as the kind of feeding stuff used 

 was of a better quality the variations in individual progress 

 became less, The greatest variations occurred where no 

 extra feeding stuff was given, and the chief merit of a good 

 feeding stuff was found to be its power of improving the 

 appetite of the poorest feeders and bringing the entire lot 

 into fairly uniform condition. But even in the lot most 

 poorly fed there will sometimes be found a great feeder. In 

 the experiment cited above we may compare the lot fed on a 

 mixture of oats and barley with the neighbouring lot fed on 

 a mixture of decorticated cotton cake and dried grains — 

 equal weights per head per day. The latter increased on 

 an average about 22 lb. per head in the twelve weeks and 

 only three individuals made less than 16 lb increase. 



Feeding progress chiefly dependent on the feeding quality of 



the turnips. 



The feeding quality of turnips depends on a variety of 

 conditions — in the first place, the fertility of the land. There 

 are certain kinds of land that are known to produce turnips 

 of good feeding quality. Akin to that there is the kind and 

 qualitv of manure used, and there is also the kind of seed, 

 and climatic and weather conditions. The quality of first 

 importance in a turnip used for sheep-feeding is a high 

 percentage of solid matter. An average turnip will contain 

 about 10 per cent, of solids, and of course 90 per cent, of water. 

 It may at first sight seem a small matter that the amount of 

 water may be increased to 92 per cent, or reduced to 88 per 

 cent., but it means that the former contains 8 per cent, and 

 the latter 12 per cent, of solid food, i.e., half as much again 

 as the former. The feeding value of the two will vary 

 correspondingly, though not, perhaps, in direct proportion. 



Sheep eating turnips with 8 per cent, solids would require 

 to eat half as much again as those eating turnips with 12 per 

 cent, solids so as to be able to consume the same amount of 

 turnip food ; but this is impossible, even if the two kinds of 



