SOME DIGESTIBILITY TRIALS ON INDIAN FEEDING STUFFS
XII. OILSEEDS, CAKES AND SOME FOOD GRAINS
By P. E. LANDER, M.A., D.Sc., F.I.C., I. A. S., Agricultural Chemist to Government
Punjab, Lyallpur, and LAL CHAND DHARMANI, L.AG., B.Sc., (AGRI.), P.A.S., Assistant
to the Agricultural Chemist to Government Punjab, Lyallpur
(Received for publication on 28 May 1943)
THIS paper records the determination of funda-
mental feeding data of oilseeds, oilseed cakes and
some other food grains on heifers, conducted at
Lyallpur under a scheme financed by the Imperial
Council of Agricultural Research for three years,
and the authors are indebted to the Council for the
means accorded for carrying it out.
Six Montogomery heifers, the details concern-
ing the ages and weights of which are shown in
Table II, were employed as experimental animals
throughout. Some difficulty was experienced at
the beginning in designing the trials in such a
way that the results could be submitted to statis-
tical interpretation according to the modern
methods. It was obviously impossible to conform
strictly to such methods, and ultimately, in con-
sultation with the Statistician to the Imperial
Council of Agricultural Research, a plan was
drawn up which, it was agreed, was most suitable
for the feeding trials consistent with the number
of animals.
In earlier trials [Lander, 1935 and 1936] when
six animals were employed, it was customary
to put all the animals on the same ration at one
time. In the trials now conducted it was decided
that for each separate ration the animals should
be divided into two groups, designated A, B, F
and C, D, E, and the rations to be investigated
were serially numbered from 1 to 24 as shown in
Table I. Each group of three animals was accord-
ingly employed for each experimental period of
1½ months on one of these rations. This ensured
that any particular ration would be fed to different
groups of animals at different times of the year,
thus eliminating to some degree seasonal variations
and those in the animals treatment of the rations.
The general outline of the whole plan of work
based on this treatment is shown in Table I.
The general technique followed in these feeding
trials has been recorded [Lander, 1928 and 1929]
fully in the bulletins and publications on nutri-
tion from the Agricultural Research Institute,
Lyallpur, in connection with the work which has
been carried on here during the last 20 years.
It is not proposed, therefore, to redescribe these
in any detail. A careful record was kept of the
various amounts of rations fed daily to each of the
animals and also of the dung and urine excreted.
Before the actual experimental trials with
these concentrates were started, the six animals
were fed for one month on oat hay alone as a
basal ration, oat hay being a maintenance ration.
The animals were then given their respective
rations of the concentrates, together with oat
hay ad lib for a fortnight, following which the
actual experimental trial for each feed was con-
ducted for one month. Again a preparatory
period of 14 days elapsed before the next experi-
mental period of one month commenced, and so
on throughout the period of three years.
During both the preparatory and experimental
periods, all the animals were fed oat hay ad lib
and were always given daily exercise under strict
control.
During the course of the trials under report,
the body weights of all the animals were taken
daily and are recorded in Table II. These merit
no particular comment, as the animals maintained
and slightly increased their weights and also
remained in good condition through the trials.
FEEDS EMPLOYED
Table III shows the chemical analyses of the
feeds employed during the period under report.
Oilseed cakes
Sarson cake (Brassica campestris var. sarson).
This cake is a common feed in the central parts
of the Punjab and is much relished by cattle.
Two pounds of cake (two pounds of the cake were
fed in all cases except linseed and groundnut
cake), after being soaked in water for two hours,
were fed daily and eaten with relish. The digesti-
bility data for this cake fed at two different
times of the year on the two different sets of
heifers correspond fairly well (Table IV).
Toria cake (Brassica napus var. dichotoma).
Toria cake is commonly fed in the canal colonies
of the Punjab. It has a slightly bitter taste and
is somewhat richer in protein than sarson cake,
and no trouble whatsoever was experienced with
the animals fed on it. It is poorer in digestible
fat than sarson cake and consequently shows a
lower total content of digestible nutrients.
Taramira cake (Eruca sativa). This is a popular
feed in the north-west Punjab and is supposed
rightly or wrongly, to have a cooling effect. It
is, however, distinctly pungent, has a very dis-
agreeable odour, and the animals at first showed
a disiclination to eat it, but they became accus-
tomed to it after some time. In chemical
composition it resembles sarson and toria cakes
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