PES NO. 2-Grain in ration, dry and whole--Average per day per fowl.

No. of fowls in pen.

PEN No. 3.-Part of grain ration ground and moistened—average per day per fowl.

Period.

Approximate

nutritive ratio.

lb.

+52

+1.20

-28

-35

-26

--20

28

4.25

+30

CZ.

OZ.

OZ.

51

.11

PEN No. 4.-Grain in ration, dry and whole.-Average per day per Fowl.

The mixed ground grain which was fed moistened to the two pens constituted on the average for the year of 37.2 per cent. of the total food, excepting skim-milk for pen No. 1, the Leghorns, and 37 per cent. for peu No. 3, the Cochins.

The average amount of water-free substance in the food taken per day per fowl for the whole year was 2:58 oz. with the pen of Leghorns, No. 1, having the moistened ground grain. For the pen No. 2, having only whole grain, the daily average was 2.98 oz., an excess in consumption over that of the first lot of 15.5 per cent.

For pen No. 1, the cost of food per hen for the year was 72:11 cents. The average number of eggs was 85.95, and the average total weight of eggs 173 45 oz., each lb. of eggs being produced at the cost for food of 666 cents. One pound of eggs was produced for every 5:31 lb. of water-free food consumed. The cost food for every dozen eggs was 10'04 cents. Rating the eggs laid during each period at the average wholesale market price for the period, the total value of eggs laid per hen was 1167 cents.

For pen No. 2 the cost of food per hen was 82.69 cents. The average number of eggs was 8443 and the average total weight 168 37 oz., 1 lb. of eggs being produced for every 6:33 lb. of water-free food consumed. The food-cost for each pound of eggs was 784 cents and the cost per dozen 11.74 cents. The average wholesale market value of eggs laid per hen was

117.7 cents.

For the pen of Cochins, No. 3, having the moistened grain food, the average amount of water-free substance in the food consumed per day per fowl for the whole year was 3:28 oz., and for the pen No. 4, having whole grain, 3.70 oz., an excess in consumption by the latter over the former of 12.8 per cent.

For pen No. 3, the cost of food for the hen per year was 91 85 cents, the average number of eggs was 59 61, and the average total weight of eggs 114:60 oz., 1 lb. of eggs for every 10-22 lb. of water-free substance in the food. The average cost of each pound of was 12 82 cents, and the cost per dozen was 18:48 cents. The average wholesale market value of eggs produced was 847 cents.

For pen No. 4, the cost of food per hen for the year was 105-06 cents. The average number of eggs was 8032, and the average total weight of eggs 155 69 oz., 1 lb. of eggs for every 847 lb. of water-free substance in the food. The food-cost of each pound of eggs was 10 79 cents, and the cost per dozen was 15 70 cents. The average wholesale market value of eggs laid was 124 56 cents.

Although all the pens were fed liberally, and had all that was needed to satisfy the appetite, the two pens fed the moistened ground grain were satisfied with a lesser amount of dry substance in the food than the two corresponding pens. The cost of the ration containing the ground grain was also less. With the Leghorns the cost of the whole grain ration was 147 per cent. the greater and with the Cochins 144 per cent. the greater.

The egg-yields from the pens of Leghorns were practically alike, but the average live weight was nearly all the time greater for the pen having whole grain, except at the start, when the average weights were equal. This fairly constant difference in weight, however, was not enough to correspond to the difference of amount of dry matter in the food eaten, and as it was the more efficient, the indications were that the ground grain ration was more fully digested than that of whole grain.

By pen No. 1, 1 lb. of eggs was produced for every 5:31 lb. of water-free substance in the food on the average for the year, and by pen No. 2, 1 lb. of

eggs for 6:33 lb. of water-free substance in the food. For eight weeks during the best part of the laying season, 1 lb. of eggs was obtained from pen No. 1 for every 2.72 lb. of water-free food, and during the same time, 1 lb. from pen No. 2 for every 3:57 lb. of water-free food. During 119 days, pen No. 1 produced eggs at the rate of 1 lb. for every 3.12 lb. of waterfree food consumed, and pen No. 2 at the rate of 1lb. for every 3.67 lb. of water-free food. There were small losses in live weight with each pen during these periods-about equal in amount. For the whole year, however, and during shorter periods, when the egg-yield was greatest, pen No. 1 produced eggs from less food than did pen No. 2. The market value of eggs for the year from pen No. 1 exceeded the cost of food by 61.9 per cent., and the value of eggs from pen No. 2 exceeded the cost of food by 42.4 per

cent.

With the Cochins, pen No. 3, having the ground grain, gave much the poorer egg-yield. The egg production for either pen, however, was so much below what is possible for the same consumption of food with the smaller breeds, that the relation of food eaten to the weight of eggs produced by these two pens is a doubtful indication of the relative digestibility of the two rations. It is possible that the ration fed to No. 3 was a trifle too liberal in amount for fowls of a breed so inactive and liable to excessive fat. During the first two months, although the dry substance in the ration for pen No. 3 was about 22 per cent. less than for pen No. 4, the average gain in live weight was considerably greater. The average live weight was also greater during most of the laying season, but toward the end of the year pen No. 4 attained to the highest in average live weight. It appears probable that the better results from the Cochins having whole grain may be due to the fact that by feeding the grain in straw it was possible to insure considerable exercise, while in feeding the ground grain ration less opportunity was afforded to induce any activity. The more rapid increase in weight at the beginning, even on less food, seems to show this.

and

On the average for the year there were 10-22 lb. of water-free substance in the food eaten by pen No. 3 for each pound of eggs laid, and in the food for No. 4-8 47 lb. of water-free food for 1 lb. of eggs. During the period when the yield of eggs for the food consumption was the best, pen No. 3 consumed 5.14 lb. of water-free food for each pound of eggs produced, pen No. 4-461 lb. of water-free food for 1 lb. of eggs. For No. 3 the market value of the eggs laid was less than the cost of food. For No. 4 the market value of the eggs exceeded the cost of the food by 18.6 per cent. The Cochins are generally classed as indifferent layers, and with good reason. Narrow confinement, however, affects them less unfavourably than it does such breeds as the Leghorn, and possibly for this reason the one pen of Cochins, No. 4, nearly equalled in total average egg production the pens of Leghorns. The average product from the two pens of Cochins was considerably short of that from the Leghorns, but a comparison between the results from the better laying pen of Cochins and the pen of Leghorns, which was fed a similar ration, is of interest, as showing the relative profits from hens of large and small breeds, when the egg-yields are about equal, and the eggyield from the smaller fowls does not exceed the usual yield from the larger. This comparison is made simply because of the opportunity of comparing the profit over food for large and small hens when the egg-products are equal and the rations alike, and not as a comparison between the breeds, for the necessary conditions were such as to much more unfavourably affect the Leghorns than the Cochins. The pen of Cochins, also, which layed the better is compared with the pen of Leghorns which gave the poorer egg-yield.