238 
Wood Shavings for Litter. 
District Class H (Stirlingshire and District). — 5 entries. One 
Queen's Premium : No. 89, Mr. R. J. Mann's Peppermill ; Reserve : 
No. 90, Mr. R. G. Waite's Royal. 
District Class I (Fifeshire, Kinross-shire, and District). — 
1 entry. One Queen's Premium : No. 92, Mr. W. Warren's Royalty. 
District Class J (Ayrshire, Wigtownshire, and District). — 
4 entries. One Queen's Premium : No. 96, Mr. J. E. Bennett's The 
Muleteer. Reserve : No. 95, Sir R. Jardine's Strathmore. 
District Class K (Roxburghshire, Berwickshire, and District). 
— 2 entries. One Queen's Premium : No. 98, Mr. W. Wilson's Sir 
Harry. Reserve : No. 97, Mr. R. F. Trenholm's Omega. 
It is not necessary to dwell in any detail on the merits of the 
animals exhibited ; but it appeared to be generally agreed that the 
quality of the Stallions competing for the Premiums was equal if not 
superior to that of the animals which have appeared before the 
Judges in previous years. 
WOOD SHAVINGS FOR LITTER. 
In the last issue of the German Agricultural Year-Book (Land- 
■wirthschaftliche Jahrbiiche, 1889, Vol. XVIII.), edited by Dr. H. 
Thiel, of the Prussian Ministry of Agriculture, appears a very 
interesting article by Dr. E. Ramann, Director of the Chemical 
Laboratory at Eberswalde, and Herr Von Kalitsch, of the Forest 
Department, on the results of a series of experiments made by them 
as to the value of wood shavings when used as litter for horses and 
cattle. Shavings from a considerable number of different kinds of 
wood were experimented with, and compared with rye-straw and 
peat-moss litter in respect of their power of absorbing water, the 
rapidity with which they decompose when mixed with earth, their 
respective cleanliness in the stall, and finally their manurial value. 
Of these materials the peat-moss was experimented with in its 
ordinary condition ; the rye-straw was in pieces 40 centimetres 
(about 16 inches) long ; whilst the shavings were of various widths, 
from 2 millimetres (about '08 inch) to 4 centimetres (about 1*6 inch). 
The softer kinds of wood proved to have a greater capacity for 
absorbing water than the straw, while the shavings from the harder 
woods absorbed barely as much as the straw. The width of the shav- 
ings had no material influence. When mixed with sand and moistened 
with tank liquid from a shippon these litter materials slowly undergo 
decomposition. They were all equally treated in this way, and the 
amount of carbonic acid evolved during the process was taken as a 
measure of the decomposition, the tests extending over 75 days. 
Judged of in this manner, fir, pine, and alderwood decompose about 
as rapidly as straw, birch and beech not quite so rapidly, whilst 
peat-moss decomposed much more slowly. In another series of 
experiments to determine the same property, but in which small 
quantities of nitrate of soda and kainit were added to the sand, 
