K. C. SEN, S. C. RAY AND S. K. TALAPATRA              273

(b) Food consumption and palatability of treated straw.—During the
period of alkali-treated straw feeding, the total consumption of dry matter
in the ration was higher (Table X) than in period 1. The higher consump-
tion was due to the larger intake of roughage. The results thus show that the
alkali-treated wheat straw was relished by the animals. In European
countries, alkali-treated straw is generally fed wet and, to make it more
palatable, molasses and sugar beet pulp are fed with it. It was, however,
observed and also verified in later experiments that during alkali-treated
straw feeding, the animals were prone to refuse a small portion of the con-
centrate which averaged about 3.5 per cent of the cake intake during the
untreated straw feeding period. This refusal of the concentrate was pre-
sumably due to the excessive amount of energy received by the animals in
period 2.

(c) Characteristics of faecal and urinary excretions during alkali-treated
straw feeding.—The dung of the experimental animals during the treated
straw feeding period was generally more moist than previously as can be seen
from the data on the average moisture content presented in Table IX. In
the same table is shown the average total volume of urinary excretion, which
was definitely lower during the treated straw feeding period.

                                  TABLE IX

      Water content in the faecal and urinary excretions

When the total water content of the faeces was calculated, it was found
that the animals were excreting on an average about 1130 c.c. of extra water
per day during the treated straw feeding period. This was, however, largely
compensated for by the lowering of the urinary volume by 940 c.c. per day.
Thus on the whole, the water excretions in periods 1 and 2 were almost
identical.