228 STORRS AGRICULTURAL EXPERIMENT STATION. 
ously, and the gains will soon be greatly reduced. Our ex- 
perience has shown that wheat bran should constitute a con- 
siderable part of the ration if good gains are to be expected for 
periods of considerable length. This was well illustrated in 
feeding the 10 lambs designated as Lot 2. In the first period 
the gains were at the rate of 16.5 pounds per lamb per month of 
31 days, while in the second period, although the ration was 
considerably larger, the gain was reduced to 11.6 pounds per 
lamb. The absence of bran in this ration, we feel, accounts in 
a great measure for the lower gains after the feeding had been 
continued for quite a time. In the case of Lot 1 the ration 
in the second period was somewhat heavier than in the first 
period, the change being mainly the substitution of bran for a 
part of the corn, and in this case the gains in the second period 
over those of the first were increased 3.2 pounds per lamb for 
the period of 31 days. The absence of bran from the ration 
in the case of lambs which are growing rapidly is very likely to 
occasion a weakness of the legs and a general lack of vigor. 
It is desirable to induce the lambs to eat as large a grain 
ration as possible if rapid gains are to be expected. In order 
to do this the coarse fodder of the ration should be as whole- 
some and nutritious as possible. For a dry feed nothing has 
proven superior to clover hay in our experience. We have 
had a large experience in the use of silage in connection with 
lamb feeding, and have generally got satisfactory results from 
its use when the quality of the silage has been good. Only 
silage from well ripened corn will give satisfactory results. 
Such varieties should be grown as will mature suitable for seed 
in this climate, and the corn should not be harvested for silage 
until the ears are well ripened and a large part of the water has 
escaped from the stalks and leaves. Silage with a large amount 
of water is sour and is always poorly eaten by lambs. 
The ration which in the long run has given us the most 
satisfactory results in feeding lambs is one very similar to that 
used in the third period with the large lot of lambs. A grain 
ration consisting of one-third corn, one-third bran, and one- 
third pea meal by weight, together with coarse fodder con- 
sisting of clover hay or clover rowen one part, and corn silage 
two parts, has, on the whole, given us very satisfactory returns. 


