New York AGRICULTURAL EXPERIMENT STATION. 35 
The cost of food for each pound gain in weight during the first 
five weeks was about 3.4 cents for Lot I, 4.6 cents for Lot IJ and 
4.5 cents for Lot III. For the next four weeks it was about 6.4 
cents for Lot I, 6.5 cents for Lot II and 7.6 cents for Lot III. 
The average food cost of each pound gain in weight for the whole 
trial was 4.8 cents for Lot I, 5.7 cents for Lot II and 6.1 cents 
for Lot III. 
IN CONCLUSION. 
Continued feeding the same rations for a short time indicated 
that growth which had been retarded under the one ration was 
not permanently checked. While growth became slower with 
the maturing birds, those of Lot II made slightly the better gains. 
Similar results have appeared in other experiments when the 
inferior rations have not been radically deficient. 
After the different rations had been fed for ten weeks, the 
birds being then 11 weeks old, and in two lots nearly full grown, 
the general appearance of the flocks was much in favor of Lot 
IJi. The birds were nearly all in good plumage, completely 
and evenly covered with feathers. Those in Lot I, though aver- 
aging somewhat heavier, showed decidedly more unevenness in 
plumage. Only a few were covered with feathers, the majority 
showing patches covered only with down and pin feathers. They 
were, however, in better plumage than Lot II. At ten weeks of 
age the average weight for Lot I was 5.4 pounds, for Lot II 4.6 
pounds and for Lot III 5.8 pounds. Subsequent growth was 
hardly_made at a profit, but during the following week the aver- 
age gain per fowl was 5.6 ounces for Lot I, 6.6 ounces for Lot II 
and 6.2 ounces for Lot III, the food consumption being at the 
rate of from 7 to 9 pounds of dry matter for each pound gain. 
The chief cause for the poorer results from the one ration 
seemed to be its somewhat inferior palatability. From 16 to 18 
per ct. more food, on the average, was taken by Lots I and III. 
Although less food was taken by Lot II, it was used as efficiently, 
on the whole, as the larger quantities taken by the other lots. 
During the earlier stages of growth the food was used to less 
advantage, but for the last month of feeding even less food was 
required per pound gain than by Lots I and III. | 
The ration for Lot III was in some respects the more satisfac- 
tory and permitted practically equal growth to that by Lot I. 
