1. Data for the composition and digestibility of certain by-products of the ryegrass seed cleaning industry are presented in amplification of data already published.

2. It is shown that the ‘hairgrass’ fraction of ryegrass seed cleanings has a starch equivalent somewhat superior to that of pure ryegrass seed or oats, and that this may be ascribed in all probability to its content of ratstail fescue seed.

3. It is shown that the ‘flatweed’ fraction, consisting chiefly of buttercup seed, has a starch equivalent, on a dry-matter basis, about three-quarters that of oats or pure ryegrass seed, and that it is, in spite of a relatively high content of digestible oil, among the least valuable constituents of the cleanings, apart from dust, straw and other worthless material.

4. Commercial Yorkshire fog seed is shown to have a feeding value comparable to that of pure perennial ryegrass seed.

5. Some data are presented regarding the inorganic constituents of ryegrass seed and ryegrass seed by-products.

1. Experiments were made on the respiration of bran at different moisture levels using a continuous absorption apparatus in which the humidity of the air-stream was adjusted to be at equilibrium with the respiring bran. The rate of respiration was accelerated with increasing moisture content and was very rapid deterioration due to the high respiration rate and microbiological damage.

2. Experiments were made on the storage of bran at known moisture contents in closed tins in the laboratory and also in sacks kept under farm conditions. The total nitrogen content of the bran stored in the tins appeared to increase during storage. From similar increases in total phosphorus, it is clear that the increase in total nitrogen was caused by a loss of dry matter from the stored feeding stuff, a fact which was further demonstrated by the loss in dry weight of the sacks of bran with attributed to two causes: (1) the respiration of the plant cells still active in the bran itself, and (2) the respiration of developing micro-organisms. It is evident from these experiments that fresh bran, free from insect infestation and stored at a moisture content of less than 13%, will have a very low respiration rate and will, therefore, not be liable to heating. Bran of 15–19% moisture content respires at a much faster rate and the time for which such material can be stored with freedom from heating or other types of deterioration will be limited.

The main object of the present investigation was to test the inference from the results of previous trials that a diet composed substantially of cereal and weatings, with a small percentage of lucerne meal or grass meal, and supplying 7% of white-fish meal up to 90 lb. live weight and no protein supplement at all thereafter, should provide all the protein needed for the maximum rate of growth in bacon pigs and the production of carcasses of satisfactory quality, when fed at the rates shown in the feeding chart in Table 3.

Two separate trials were carried out, and both the individual-feeding and group-feeding techniques were employed. In Trial I the control treatment A supplied the standard allowances of high-protein supplement, consisting of 10% of white-fish meal from weaning to 150 lb. live weight, and 5% of extracted soya-bean meal from 150 lb. to slaughter at about 200 lb. The white-fish meal in the rations of the pigs on treatment B was restricted to 7% up to 90 lb. live weight, and from this stage onwards the high-protein supplement was entirely omitted from the diet. The rest of the diet in both treatments consisted of barley meal and weatings, with a small percentage of lucerne meal, care being taken also to safeguard the animals against mineral deficiencies.

Average lactation curves have been prepared from selected animals in a group of heifers treated for 60 or 100 days with stilboestrol or hexoestrol tablet implants. A treatment period of 100 days appears to give poorer results than one of 60 days. The optimum duration, on the average, is probably about 75 days, but seems to depend upon the way lactation develops—which bears no obvious relationship to the amount of oestrogen absorbed.

A rise in yield follows tablet removal whether this is done while the yield is still rising or after it has begun to decline. Yield in an induced lactation may fall very far short of the animal's inherent capacity, but comparison between induced lactations and those at subsequent calvings shows that it may very nearly approach what would be a normal yield.

A heifer which was treated twice did rather less well in her second induced lactation.

Breeding histories of a number of implanted heifers are outlined. They were all animals which had failed previously to get in calf. 5–10% (without further treatment) did not return to an ovulatory cycle. About 70% of anatomically normal heifers got in calf, the service rate being about 2·6. A rather high incidence of abortions may be a feature of a recovery period from treatment, but may have been due to selection of animals with such a tendency.

An experiment involving twelve pens of twenty-five pullets demonstrated that two types of dried potatoes compared favourably with cereals, as regards their effects on egg production, when up to 42½% of each product was included in the mash.

The records of the experiment, as regards (a) the number of eggs laid in 12 months, (b) the mean weight of eggs during the year, and (c) the change in live weight during the year, were studied by analysis of variance, using the approximate method of Yates (1933) for obtaining standard errors of pen means from the variance within pens. Similar analyses of the number of eggs laid in the month were carried out for each month separately. The latter analyses indicated the months in which increased production was obtained from the superior rations, and showed that duplicate pens had reacted similarly to the experimental feeding. The results of the statistical analyses are set out in some detail as an example of method.

1. The results of two trials involving twenty-four pigs did not provide a clue to the observed craving of pigs for metallic copper.

2. There seems to be no advantage in supplementing a normal diet for fattening pigs which contains about 5 p.p.m. of copper with copper given in form of a solution of copper sulphate. The addition of a mixture of copper sulphate, manganese sulphate and iron pyrophosphate to the same normal diet had also no effect on the rate of growth of the pigs and their food consumption.

3. The haemoglobin and copper contents of the blood appeared to be unaffected by the addition of copper to the diet. The copper content of the livers showed a tendency to be higher in the livers of the pigs receiving the copper supplements.

1. An experiment was performed to consider the porosity of egg shells, and the influence of different levels of dietary calcium upon this factor.

2. A method was devised for measuring porosity under standard conditions, and the values so obtained are referred to as porosity coefficients.

3. The low calcium diet soon led to the cessation of egg production. The few eggs laid showed a tendency to increasing shell porosity as the end of laying approached. On the average these shells had much higher porosity coefficients than shells produced on a normal calcium diet.

4. The high calcium diet had no apparent ill effects on two birds, but the other two laid many abnormal eggs. Porosity coefficients in this group were, on the average, lower than in the normal calcium group, but not significantly so. Egg production was as good as on a normal calcium diet.

5. The porosity coefficients were significantly higher in period 2 than in period 1, when birds were fed the normal calcium diet throughout; egg production also fell in the second period.

6. Eggs other than the first in a clutch do not differ in porosity, but the first egg has a significantly lower porosity coefficient than the remainder. A possible explanation of this is suggested.

1. By premature harvesting, as early as 5 days after fertilization, dwarf grains are obtained which will germinate readily and produce normal plants, even though grain size may be only 10% that of fully developed grain. Such plants tend to attain the same final size as those from mature grain. This paper deals with the growth under field conditions of dwarf grain with regard to survival during the winter, and final yield.

2. Pot cultures with vernalized winter and spring varieties of rye, wheat, and barley have shown that the high growth rate characteristic of dwarf grain is not confined to the vegetative phase of growth, but is also manifested after the ear has developed. The fact emerges that dwarf grain can be successfully vernalized.

3. A field trial is described using three size classes of grain (mature, medium, dwarf) with mean grain weights of 33·93, 23·56 and 10·23 mg. respectively. These were sown (i) at sowing rates of 2 and 3 bushels per acre, and (ii) at uniform spacings of approximately 200 and 300 grains per 9 ft. row. A subsidiary experiment with spacing of 1 ft. was also carried out.

4. All classes of grain germinated well and survival during the winter was uniformly high in the equally spaced plots; with the close spacing of the dwarf grain at 2 and 3 bushels per acre (plots 11 and 12) percentage survival was somewhat reduced.

5. The effect of grain size and spacing on time of flowering was negligible.

Seasonal variation in the reproductive capacity of the bull was studied during a 27-month experimental period at the Experimental Station. There are a total of 1049 ejaculates for this period. Supplementary data for other periods on the Experimental Station and for two other large farms practising artificial insemination are also included.

Highly significant individual and monthly differences were noted during the experimental period for the density and motility of the sperm, the pH of the semen and for the percentage of ejaculations performed. The seasonal variation in semen is marked, but there is considerable variation in different years between bulls and between farms in the periods of maximal and minimal types of semen and in seasonal trends.

The relationship between such variation and climatic and nutritional conditions is discussed. There appears to be a basic seasonal rhythm in bull semen associated with climatic factors, warmer conditions causing stimulation and vice versa. Nutritional factors may, however, modify this rhythm. The relationship between seasonal variations in semen quality and fertility is discussed.