446 
Experiments on the Feeding of Stock. 
larize tlils report is a task of no little difficulty, and a tliorough 
insight can only be obtained by reference to the original work. 
The question of the greatest novelty and importance worked 
out in these pages is that of the proportion Avhich the amount of 
nitrogen found in the excrement bears to that which has been 
supplied in the food. The practical questions whether stock 
should be fed on cake or guano bought ; what allowance should 
be made to an outgoing tenant for nitrogenous feedingr-stuffs 
consumed ; the sum to be put to the credit of the cattle account 
for manure made — all hinge upon this question : and we can 
hardly be said to have any real knowledfje on the subject. But 
these considerations cannot be severed from those of diet, increase, 
health, and, in a lesser degree, breed and age. Again, the 
rationale of fattening stock has of late undergone a revolution. 
When com was taxed and and guano unknown, oilcake almost 
alone provided the supply of nitrogen for the growth of wheat 
which high prices rendered profitable. Times have changed, 
but we have hardly yet got out of the ruts of custom, although 
economical feeding is now on the increase, aud it finds a most 
decided advocate in M. Reiset, 
Again, it is interesting to contrast our sheep and their manage- 
ment with the flocks of our neighbours ; and we have seen that 
]VI. Reiset discreetly took to sheep-farming rather than grazing 
cattle ; so that, with the exception of one lot of eight cow's, 
sheep are the subjects of his trials. 
His flock is the Improved Charmois, and it has been crossed 
first with Leicester rams, then with Southdown. A second 
cross of Leicester and a first cross of Southdown were subjects 
of these experiments. The advantages already gained are that 
the animals are fattened at 21 and 24 months, instead of at 4 
vears of age. Picked specimens, are valued when fat at 32 francs 
(11. 5s. Id.). Such sheep, weighed alive when fasting, between 
8 and 9 a.m., gave an average of 91J lbs. When killed in, this 
store condition they gave the following percentages : — ' 
The four quarters 48'57 
Skin and fleece 11"19 
Tallow 6-52 
When, at the end of one experiment, the sheep were killed as 
fat, two carcases weighed 59"2 lbs. and 56'3 lbs. respectively ; 
being only 45"5 and 43'4 per cent, respectively of the live-weight. 
Even 12 j)rize fat sheep (first cross of Leicester), 27 months old,, 
gave only these averages : — 
lb3. 
Live-weight 155"4 
The four quarters 79'2 
Tallow , .. 19-6 
or, for 100 of live-weight, 51 of carcase, 13"08 of tallow. 
