4 
N. C. AGRICULTURAL EXPERIMENT STATION. 
oat the bile products with alcohol and ether. Then by dividing the 
amounts of each food compound digested by the amount of the same 
compound in the food eaten the per cent, digested is obtained. These 
last are called the co-efficients of digestibility . 
Another question connected with the digestion may be considered for 
which the nitrogen consumption and excretion are the factors, to deter¬ 
mine whether the animal is gaining or losing tiesh, or just being sup¬ 
ported by the ration. In the work under discussion both milk and urine 
were examined chemically for this pnrpose. 
DATA COLLECTED AT THE STABLE. 
The Jersey cow, Belle of Brookside, was kept on a diet of cotton seed 
hulls and waste from other cows for some time before this digestion work 
was begun. After November 30th, 1890, this cow was bedded with 
sawdust and fed only cotton seed hulls until the conclusion of the diges¬ 
tion period with hulls alone. 
Due preparation was made and collection of both solid and liquid 
excrements were begun at noon of December 8th. These were carefullv 
sampled each day at noon. The samples were weighed and taken at 
once to the laboratory. The cow was nearly dry at the time this experi¬ 
ment began and was milked but once daily. At every feeding two 
ounces more than was required was weighed and the two ounces removed 
from different parts of the hulls were placed in a tight jar and kept for 
analysis until the end of the experiment. The whole of the waste from 
each feed was weighed, thoroughly mixed on a clean floor, and a sample 
ot about 8 ounces was taken from which a water determination was to 
be made. Water was offered twice dailv at regular times, and the 
amount-drank is recorded in the table for stable record, where will be 
found the record of live weight every morning before feeding or water¬ 
ing- 
The weather during this period, December 1st to 12th, 1890, was 
mild, but two days were raw and cold. The cold was not, however, in¬ 
tense enough to cause much, if any, discomfort in the stable. The rain¬ 
fall was 1.49 inches, all occurring on the 7th and 8th. Cloudiness, 0.5, 
on scale of 0 to 10; cloudless days, 1st, 2d, 9th and 10th; fair days, 
4th, 5th, 11th and 12th; highest temperature, 67° F. on 11th; lowest 
temperature 28° F. on 7th and 8th; mean temperature, 1st—12th, 43.6° 
F.; mean relative humidity, 1st—12th, 74.8 per cent.; mean height of 
barometer, 30.037 inches; highest barometer, 30.287 inches on the 
5th; lowest barometer, 29.773 inches on the 11th. 
The environment of an animal has so much to do with their well-be¬ 
ing, and may effect them in so many ways, especially if such is the cause 
of bodily discomfort, or mental excitement, that this summary is re¬ 
garded as an essential part of the record, as well as the fact that this cow 
was of a particularly mild disposition and never for* the whole time 
seemed to be in the least annoyed by the presence of the attendants. 
