Shrinkage of Corn. At the Agricultural Experiment Station, Ames, Iowa, in the autumn of 1898, a corn-crib was built upon the platform of a set of farm scales. On Oct. 19, 7000 lb. of corn was husked and stored in the crib. The corn was weighed once a week for a year with the following results: 1. Find the per cent of shrinkage from Oct. 19 to Oct. 19 of the next year. 2. Using 7000 lb. as the base, find the per cent of shrinkage for each monthly period,-Oct. 19 to Nov. 2; Nov. 2 to Dec. 7; Dec. 7 to Jan. 4; Jan. 4 to Feb. 1, etc. 3. Find the sum of the thirteen answers to Problem 2 and compare this with the answer to Problem 1. Shrinkage of Corn and Hay. 1. Making no allowance for loss by rats and mice, for risk of destruction by fire or tornado, or for extra labor in handling, what per cent above the Oct. 19th price, should a farmer receive for corn on Jan. 4th to make up for the loss by shrinkage as shown in the table on the preceding page? 2. What per cent above the Jan. 4th price, should a farmer receive for corn on the following Sept. 6th to make up for loss by shrinkage as shown in the table? 3. If new corn is 40 cents per bushel of 75 lb., Nov. 2nd, what should be the price per bushel of 70 lb., on the following Aug. 2nd to make up for shrinkage as shown on the preceding page? 4. Which is the better for the seller, corn at 50 cents per cwt. from the field Oct. 19th, or corn at 41 cents a bushel from the crib on the following June 7th? 5. Which is the better for the buyer, new corn at 37 cents for 75 lb. on Nov. 2nd, or the same corn on the following May 3rd at 37 cents for 70 lb.? 6. Making proper allowance for the use of money, for risk of loss by vermin, fire, and tornado, for extra labor, and for shrinkage, what, in your judgment,* should the farmer receive for corn 70 lb. to the bushel, on July 5th, to be equivalent to 75 lb. for 30 cents, drawn directly from the field Oct. 19th? 7. If clover hay shrinks in weight 30% from June to October, what should be the price in October to correspond with $6.00 per ton in June? 8. If timothy hay shrinks in weight 20% from July to October, what should be the price in October to correspond with $7.00 per ton in July? The author very well knows that many pupils will be confronted with this problem who can have no "judgment" regarding it. Such may omit it. For those who can understand the conditions, the problem may prove the most valuable of any on the page. At the Slaughter-House. Shrinkage in dressing.-Beeves shrink from 43 to 55% in dressing. This means that a carcass of dressed beef weighs from 43 to 55% less than the live weight of the animal. Hogs shrink from 15 to 22%. (a) Find the per cent of shrinkage in each of the above cases. (b) If the tongue, liver, heart, and offal are worth enough to pay for slaughtering, and the hide is worth 7 cents per pound, what is the cost per cwt. of each carcass of beef? (c) Find the per cent of shrinkage on the entire lot of ten head. (d) Find the average cost of the dressed beef per cwt. 11. Live weight, 450 lb.; 12. Live weight, 650 lb.; 13. Live weight, 260 lb.; 14. Live weight, 350 lb.; 15. Live weight, 340 lb.; (e) Find the per cent of cases. HOGS. dressed weight, 370 lb. (f) If live hogs are worth $4.80 per cwt., and the cost of slaughtering is 50 cents per head, what is the cost per cwt. of each of the above carcasses of pork? An Experiment in Feeding Calves. Twelve calves were divided into three lots of four each and fed for 74 days. The following table shows the kind and amount of food consumed and the gain of the calves in weight: 1. Find the average daily gain per head, and the cost of food per pound of gain, the following being the value per cwt. of each kind of food: Skim-milk, 12c.; hay, 30c.; oat meal, 75c.; corn meal, 65c.; flaxseed, $2.50. Experiments in Feeding Swine.* The following gives the averages of many hundred experiments in feeding swine. "Pounds of feed" means pounds of grain or its equivalent. Six pounds of skim-milk or 12 pounds of whey were counted as 1 "pound of feed." This is in accord with the Danish valuation. 2. Find the number of pounds of feed required for 100 lb. of gain in each instance. *The data given under this head are from FEEDS AND FEEDING by Prof. W. A. Henry of the University of Wisconsin. The tests were made at Agricultural Experiment Stations in many states. "Nutritive Ratio." The chemist sometimes divides the dry part of food constituents into three groups, namely: protein compounds, carbohydrates, and ether-extract.* Protein contains nitrogen and is a "muscle former." The carbohydrates contain no nitrogen and are "fat formers." Ether-extract contains no nitrogen and is a “fat former.” The nutritive ratio is the ratio of the muscle formers to the fat formers in any article of food. Since ether-extract is more valuable as a food constituent than the carbohydrates, it is customary to multiply the digestible ether-extract by 2.4 before making the comparison. Thus; the digestible constituents of 100 lb. of clover hay are as follows: Protein, 6.8 lb.; carbohydrates, 35.8 lb.; ether-extract, 1.7 lb. In determining the nutritive ratio of clover hay, 6.8 lb. is compared with 35.8 lb. + 2.4 times. 1.7 lb., or 6.8: 39.88 = 1:5.8+.† 1. Find the nutritive ratio for each kind of food mentioned in the table.† *The protein compounds, or proteids, include gluten, albumin, casein, etc. The carbohydrates consist of carbon, oxygen, and hydrogen, and include sugar, starch, and cellulose. The term, ether-extract is applied to a variety of compounds the most important of which is oil or "fat." This ratio is usually given with a unit for the first term and with the second term true to tenths. The figures in this table are taken by permission from FEEDS AND FEEDING by Prof. W. A. Henry of the University of Wisconsin. "The dry stocks of corn from which the ears have been removed." HENRY. |