OS ae TWENTY-FIFTH ANNIVERSARY REporT. 
in the rations being marked. In the latter experiment,® involving 
four animals, two steers and two heifers, neither kind of ration ap-_ 
peared to have any especial advantage in the way of producing gain 
of flesh. The conclusion was that the substitution of nitro- 
genous foods: liké .cotton sséed~ mealy formcern = med eeands a 
small quantity of bran, was not followed by any advan- 
tage as a fattening ration so far as the increase in live weight 
indicates such advantage. ‘The animals receiving the more nitrog- 
enous ration had a sleeker appearance. No difference in the 
proportions of fat and lean were observed in the carcasses. A 
table test of the meat from the two lots of animals appeared to show 
that the meat from the steer receiving the wide ration was tenderer 
and “sweeter ” than that from the other steer, a difference which 
may have been due to individuality. The conclusions from this early 
work, while based upon scant data, are abundantly corroborated by 
later experiments of a much more extensive kind. It is clear that 
the German feeding standards call for a larger proportion of pro- 
tein in a ration for fattening animals than is necessary for good 
results. 
INFLUENCE OF PROTEIN FEEDS IN THE PRODUCTION OF MILK. 
It is unfortunate that the experiments’ conducted by the Station 
with a view to testing the influence of the by-product protein feeds 
upon milk production were so faulty in plan that the data secured 
should hardly be considered as conclusive. It has been pointed out 
that the feeding periods in these experiments were altogether too 
short, being in one case, at least, only ten-day periods. One fact, 
however, was very evident in all the experiments, that while the 
figures given should not be considered as entirely satisfactory, the 
protein feeds unquestionably stimulated milk flow, especially where 
they were introduced into a ration consisting very largely of corn 
meal. It is fair to say, however, that the sudden changes from a 
ration of one standard to that of another may be properly regarded 
as a disturbing factor and the experiments therefore do not con- 
stitute a fair test of what the relative value of the rations would be 
when fed continuously through long periods. However, such re- 
sults as these had much to do with the estimate in which protein 
feeds are held by milk producers and are in part responsible prob- 
* Rpt. 8:117-130 (1889). 
‘Bul. 210; also Rpt. 20:61-119 (1907). 
