26 Keport of the Director of the 
The albuminoid fed during this period of 120 days was: 
In hay. 
In corn 
meal. 
In lin- 
seed 
meal. 
In en- 
silage. 
In bran. 
Total 
lbs. 
Bfiss 
137.75 
67.78 
22.00 
53.75 
99.45 
17.40 
3.15 
3.15 
20.00 
19.40 
232.35 
161.22 
This total albuminoid, reduced to its value in hay containing 9 per 
cent, of albuminoid, is equivalent to the feeding of 3,137 lbs. of hay 
to Bess and 1,791 lbs. of hay to Jess; or 
In the case of Bess, 3,137 lbs. hay produced 166 or 185 lbs. live 
weight. 
In the case of Jess, 1,791 lbs. hay produced 176 or 198 lbs. live 
weight. 
Expressing this fact in another form, Bess gained 1.38 lbs. (or 1.54 
lbs.) live weight per day, and Jess 1.46 lbs. (or 1.65 lbs.) per day; or, in 
the one case, that of Bess, 2.35 lbs. albuminoid fed daily was followed 
by 1.38 lbs. gain in live weight; in the case of Jess, 1.34 lbs. of albu- 
minoid fed daily was followed by 1.46 lbs. daily increase of live weight. 
The principal lesson to be derived from this trial is that conclusions 
drawn from experiments with few animals are extremely liable to be 
misleading, on account of the individuality of the animal used. 
We may also note that under ad libitum feeding, the animals selected 
their own ration. 
We may also note that under the circumstances of the feeding there 
was no profit, the increase costing more than the value of the flesh. 
We may also note that from February 1 to December 1, 242 days, 
the average increase of live weight was 1.51 lbs. per day for Bess, and 
1.14 lbs. for Jess, or a reverse result from the experimental period. 
Such negative experiments as we have here reported have a certain 
value as showing the difficulties appertaining to the effort to generalize 
upon our work, and the necessity of constantly checking our exper- 
imental opinions with those derived from practical experience. They 
also suggest that, as growth is in many cases an attribute of breed, 
whether for trials of this nature thoroughbreds should not in all cases 
be selected as subjects for feeding trials. 
PLAT EXPERIMENTATION. 
Potatoes. 
The twenty-one plats, one-twentieth of an acre each, grouped under 
letter F, were planted with White Star potatoes on May 2 and 3, the 
seeding single eyes, the distances twelve by fourteen inches. No ferti- 
