298 



Influence of Manures on Mutton. 



In 1899, as in preceding years, a Newcastle butcher- 

 salesman inspected and valued the various lots on the last 

 day of the experiment, and selected representative sheep for 

 slaughter. While in 1898 two sheep were taken from each 

 plot for slaughter, this was not done in 1899 in the case of 

 Plots 2 and 6, these plots failing to furnish any animals in 

 *" killing" condition. Although the butcher's valuations are a 

 useful supplement to the computations based on the weights 

 — with which they are, in almost every case, in close agree- 

 ment — it seems reasonable to conclude that, on the whole, 

 the valuations deduced from the weights are the more 

 reliable. The weighings give the accurate gain per sheep 

 -and per lot during each season, whereas the butcher's figures 

 deal only with the size and condition of the animals at the 

 •end of the season. The final weight, to a certain extent, 

 depends on the size of the animals to start with, which, 

 of course, has nothing to do with the season's grazing; and 

 although the average initial weight of each lot before 

 clipping showed less than 1 lb. of deviation, there was 

 necessarily a greater variation than this amongst individuals. 



The return per acre per annum, as deduced from the 

 butcher's valuation, has been computed from the initial cost 

 of the sheep, and not simply from a comparison of the final 

 valuations of the different lots. The two methods, however, 

 give results that in no case differ, on the average of the three 

 years, by so much as is. per acre. 



The sheep were washed on the day before, and shorn ten 

 days after, the experiment started, the weight of the fleece 

 being deducted from the initial weight of each animal. 



In 1899 a new departure was taken, in having a wool 

 -expert present on the last day of the experiment, and his 

 notes are added to those of the butcher. Any differences 

 in the estimated amount of wool have not, however, been 

 taken account of in the Tables. 



Plot 1. — The effects of Cake. — The sheep of this plot 

 received Jib. per head per day of decorticated cotton cake in 

 1897 and 1898, while in 1899 they got nothing but grass, the 

 idea being to see what improvement the cake residues of the 

 ■first two years had produced on the pasture of the third. 



