600 
THE FOOD WE GIVE. 
11 a.m.—Steam mess as at 5 a.m, 
11.30 a.m.—41bs. of hay. 
5 p.m,—Steamed mess as at 5 a.m, 
7.30 p.m.—4lbs. of hay, water ad lib. 
Being a daily allowance to each animal of 561bs. mangolds, 31bs. hay chaff, 
81bs. meal (bean or oat), 81bs. hay, ^Ib. treacle, 6oz. of salt. The treacle 
was given not only as a laxative, but as a condiment; cattle surfeit so 
readily on large quantities of meal, oatmeal especially. 
On March 30th all the animals were weighed, and the 
lots 1 (of both beasts and cows) were put upon the beanmeal 
diet, and lots 2 upon the oatmeal. After the lapse of twenty- 
eight days, on April STth, they were again weighed, and the 
lots 1 were changed to the oatmeal diet, and the lots 2 to the 
beanmeal. They were weighed after the interval of a week, 
on May 4th, and again after another period of twenty-eight 
days, on June 1st, when the experiment w^as concluded. 
The general result T can hardly give better than in the 
reporter's own wmrds. He observes that during the period 
of twenty-eight days each the quantity of meal consumed 
by each lot was 89h lbs., or 3^ loads. The gain in w’eight 
acquired by the feeding beasts when on oatmeal over that 
acquired on the beanmeal was 31 lbs. As the greater 
portion of this must have gone to add to the dead weight^^ 
of the animals, we shall strike off only 3 lbs. for offal, thus 
leaving 48 lbs. net. This quantity, at the moderate price of 
4^. per stone of 8 lbs., gives 24^. According to this experi¬ 
ment and these calculations, if the beanmeal was worth 235. 
per load, the oatmeal was worth 325. 6f/., and their relative 
values for fattening cattle would stand as 10 is to 13. 
Dealing with the milch cows experiment in the same way, 
the gain in favour of oatmeal was 23 lbs. or 24 lbs. nett, 
equal to 125. The increase of milk was 73 lbs., of the value 
of 45., so that the proportionate value was as 10 to 12; but 
if we value the increased produce of milk only, then if the 
beanmeal is worth 10, the oatmeal is worth 10|. We in¬ 
variably, concludes Mr. Thomson, look with a certain degree 
of distrust on the deductions from single experiments, more 
especially if these have been on the feeding of animals, how¬ 
ever carefully they may have been conducted; but the above 
trials seem to indicate that oatmeal possesses, weight for 
weight, a considerably higher value than beanmeal for the 
production of fat, and that it is at least equally valuable wdth 
beanmeal for the production of milk. 
Another important inquiry relating to the food we employ, 
viz. the composition of the linseed and the oilcake of com¬ 
merce, has for some time engaged the attention of Professor 
Anderson. Two papers by him are contained in the Trans. 
