330 



Bullock Feeding Experiments. 



This falling behind of the linseed cake when the question 

 is reduced to £ s. d. is due to the great increase in the price 

 of that food during the last three years. Should the price 

 fall again to something* like £6 per ton, linseed cake would 

 probably again become the most profitable food to buy 

 for fattening bullocks, as it Avas in the experiment in 1896-97. 

 This is shown by the following table, which shows the 

 figures for Lot I. for 1898-9 as before, but with linseed cake at 

 £6 per ton instead of £8. 



£ s. d. 



Cost of five bullocks at £12 6s. per head - - - - 61 10 o 



Cost of roots - - 13 10 



Cost of chaff - - - - - - - - - 7 00 



Cost of linseed cake 19 12 o 



Cost of attendance - - - - - - - - 4150 



Total cost of the five fat bullocks ----- 105 18 o 



Value as sold at 8s. per stone - - - - - 101 5 8 

 Manurial value of food 890 



Total return per lot .109 14 8 



Profit on the five bullocks ^3 16 o 



The main conclusions of the series oi experiments there- 

 fore are that : Linseed cake appears to be the best food to 

 buy for fattening bullocks, so far as the actual production of 

 beef is concerned, but that at present prices a mixture of 

 decorticated cotton cake and some less expensive article such 

 as dried grains or maize meal is more economical. 



Looking back at the table of increases per head per diem 

 on page 326, it is evident that while in 1896-7 and 1897-8? 

 common cotton cake in Lot II. gave a very poor result, when 

 used with linseed cake throughout the experiment, yet the 

 beasts eating it always started very well, and only fell off in 

 the later stages of feeding. 



Accordingly it was decided in 1898-9 to feed Lot IV. with 

 equal parts of linseed and common cotton cake to start with, 

 but to gradually decrease the latter and finish the beasts with 

 linseed cake alone. This suggested itself as likely to succeed, 

 both from the results obtained in Lot II., as quoted above in 

 the experiments of 1896-7 and 1897-8, and from the fact that 

 many feeders make this method their common practice. The 

 results, however, obtained in 1898-9 were most unsatisfactory, 



