Repository: UIHistories Project: Board of Trustees Minutes - 1886 [PAGE 214]

EXTRACTED TEXT FROM PAGE:

206 harvested. At a distance of ten feet the second sample was taken in bluegrass sod. The grass had not made much growth since it had been cut, looked quite parched and had little effect as a mulch. There was no visible moisture in either sample. After weighing, the soil was dried at 100°c and again weighed. The results are given in the following table:

Wt. U cu. ft. Wt. after d r y - W a t e r lost in P e r cent, of Wt. water p e r water. acre. ing. drying. soil. Cultivated soil B l u e g r a s s sod ... 21 lbs. 14.2 o z . 18 lbs. 9.5 o z . 3 lbs. 4.7 oz. 20 lbs. 14.6 o z . 19 lbs. 1.8 o z . l i b . 12.8 o z . 15.06 8.67 573,903 l b s . 313,632 l b s .

It will be noticed the cultivated soil, dried, weighed about 74J pounds, the grass sod about V6J pounds per cubic foot. We have found thoroughly dried soil, with like quality with the samples, absorb a little over 33 per cent, of its weight of water, by capillary attraction—a glass tube filled with soil to depth of one foot being placed so the soil at the bottom stood in water. This would give, approximately, 250,000 pounds or 5,000 barrels of water held in one acre of soil to the depth of one foot.

PIG

FEEDING.

HUNT.

B Y T. F .

Feeding experiments were begun to determine the food value of skim-milk as compared with corn-meal, and the value of shelled corn compared with corn-meal. For this purpose six Poland China barrows, about six months of age, varying in weight from 160 to 204 pounds, and very similar in form, thrift and flesh, were divided into three lots, so arranged that the variations in the lots were as small as possiWe, the greatest variation between any two lots being 17 pounds. They were housed with small yards adjacent to run in, having previously been on'grass, with the addition of ear corn and a limited supply of "slop." The lots were lettered A, B and C. For three weeks lot A was fed shelled corn ad libitum. Lot B was fed the same as lot A, except the corn was made into coarse meal. This was fed dry. Lot C was fed same as lot B, with addition of a fixed quantity of skim, but as much as experience should they would drink without waste. All had water. In order to determine that the results obtained by the addition of skim-milk were not due to individual differences in the pigs, at the end of three weeks the skim-milk was given to lot B instead of C, the food of lot A remaining the same.