Sheep Feeding Experiments. 



i59 



fore, not very appetising^, and that there was also a 

 prevalence of cold, stormy weather. The sheep getting by- 

 fodder would be more vigorous, and better able to stand up 

 to their feeding boxes while the cold winds blew. What- 

 ever the reason, the fact is important that the giving of a 

 by-fodder does not necessarily diminish the consumption of 

 turnips. Another important fact brought out by these 

 experiments is that some by-fodders affect the quantity of 

 turnips consumed very differently from others. Thus, it was 

 uniformly found that sheep getting maize as a by-fodder 

 consumed less turnips than those getting any other of the 

 by-fodders. On the other hand, the giving of dried grains 

 caused a greatly increased consumption of turnips, and the 

 undecorticated cotton cake was also very favourable to 

 turnip consumption. 



Dried grains as a by-fodder. 



Perhaps the most important fact brought out by the 

 Society's experiments is the superiority of good dried grains 

 to all the other by-fodders used in maturing sheep that are 

 consuming turnips. It has proved to be not only the best, 

 but also the cheapest of the by-fodders. But there are 

 different qualities of dried grains according to their source and 

 to their manufacture. Dried grains is the residue derived from 

 barley which has been malted and mashed and had almost 

 all its starch converted into sugar and extracted so as to be 

 further converted into alcohol in the manufacture of beer or 

 malt whisky. Dried grains, therefore, contains less carbo- 

 hydrates than barley, but twice as much albuminoids and oil, 

 and is, therefore, weight for weight, much more nutritious 

 than the barley from which it is derived. It contains only 

 about 10 per cent, of water, and is therefore four times as 

 nutritious as ordinary wet draff. Sheep are remarkably fond 

 of it, and consume with avidity 10 lbs. or more per head per 

 day. 



Dried grains derived from distilleries where other kinds of 

 grain than barley are used for making alcohol may be of 

 inferior quality, and, on the other hand, some manufacturers 

 mix dried grains in such a way as greatly to improve their 



