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EXPERIMENTS ON WINTER FATTENING OF LAMBS, 221 
FEEDING EXPERIMENTS ON THE WINTER FAT- 
TENING OF LAMBS. 
BY CHAS. E. LYMAN. 
(REPORTED BY C. S. PHELPS.) 
The investigation here reported was undertaken with the 
idea of gaining some light on the value of different rations and 
ditterent feeding stuffs on the winter fattening of lambs. The 
lambs were separated into three lots. ‘The first and second lot 
included 10 lambs each. They were mostly selected grade 
-‘Shropshires, considerably larger and rather more vigorous than 
the average of our feeding lambs. The third lot consisted of 
200 lambs of medium quality, taken from a carload purchased 
in Chicago. They were range-fed lambs with quite a propor- 
tion of the blood of the “ down” breeds, and were considered 
fairly good feeders. | 
Description of Experiments with Lambs of First and Second 
Lots. — The feeding materials used in these tests were clover 
rowen hay of good quality and well ripened corn silage with a 
large proportion of ears, whole corn of the common Western 
varieties, fine wheat bran, and pea meal. The last is a by- 
product from the preparation of split peas, and consists largely 
of the smaller peas which are culled out and mixed with the 
hulls, and the whole ground and sold under the name of pea 
meal. 
‘Lot 1 had the narrow ration, which was planned to consist 
of three-fourths pea meal and one-fourth corn, with about one 

* During the winter of 1897-98, the Station co-operated with Chas. 
E. Lyman of Middlefield, Conn., in conducting some feeding experi- 
ments on the fattening of lambs. Mr. Lyman feeds each winter about 
4,000 lambs, which are bought during the fall months in the Buffalo or 
Chicago markets, and thus has favorable opportunities for selecting 
desirable stock for feeding experiments. The chief purpose of the ex- 
periment was to compare the effects of a ration giving a somewhat wide 
nutritive ratio, with those of one giving a rather narrow nutritive 
ratio, for fattening purposes. ‘Two small lots of lambs were used for 
this part of the experiment. In addition a test was laid out with a 
large number of lambs, with what was designated asa ‘* business ra- 
tion,” to ascertain the profits of feeding. This ration was considered by 
Mr. Lyman to be nearly a balanced ration for fattening lambs. ‘Thus 
there was an opportunity afforded for comparing what is commonly 
known as a narrow ration, a wide ration, and a ‘“‘ balanced ” ration. — 
W. O. ATWATER. 
