130 AGRICULTURE OF MAINE. 



CHOICE VERSUS PRIME COTTONSEED MEAE. 



Now I want to show you the value of prime cottonseed meal 

 compared with choice cottonseed meal. The choice has 41 per 

 cent protein and the prime 38.5 per cent. Figuring out the 

 values in the way we have been doing, we find that prime cotton- 

 seed meal would be worth $29.70 a ton and choice cottonseed 

 meal $32.60. There is a difference of almost $3.00 a ton, and 

 the difference in retail price, in ton lots, is $1.00 and the differ- 

 ence in carload lots is 25 cents a ton. Why should we allow any 

 dealer to sell us prime cottonseed meal? 



These feeds are sold under guarantee, and they come quite 

 well up to the guarantees. Ten years ago when I spoke at the 

 Dairymen's Convention I told you of the law that went into 

 effect the preceding October, and said I hoped the consumers 

 in Maine would send all the samples of feeding stuffs they 

 possibly could to the Maine Experiment Station to be examined, 

 and we got a great many from our farmer friends, but the 

 dealers were not much interested. The dealers have become 

 intensely interested, and today while we get large numbers of 

 samples from the farmers, we get five from the dealer to one 

 from the farmer. They are trying to learn the quality of the 

 goods they are buying. 



We got som'e very poor cottonseed meal last year, but nobody 

 in Maine was directly to blame. This meal was sold in our 

 State in August for fall delivery, and the dealers could not fore- 

 see that there would be great storms on the Gulf and that cot- 

 tonseed meal would advance in price and be poor in quality. 

 Last year we had many shipments of "off" meal, but this year 

 we are having almost no bad cottonseed meal. It is very bright 

 and fine. The chief point to be looked after is to demand and 

 see to it that your dealer buys choice cottonseed meal instead of 

 prime. 



We have cottonseed feeds on the market today which are 

 worth about $19 a ton as compared with choice cottonseed meal. 

 It is pretty hard to get at the actual prices of cottonseed feeds 

 as there is no grading on them anywhere, but concerns in Port- 

 land, in whom I have confidence, said the best price they could 

 offer would be $25 a ton in carload lots ; and this for a cotton- 

 seed feed worth $19 in comparison with choice meal at $32. 



