140 EXPERIMENTAL FARMS 



5-6 EDWARD VII., A. 1908 



Ccnsiclering tlie nature of the material, the percentage of nitrogen is quite notable. 

 Presumably the nitrogen is present as ammonium salts. 



The percentages of phosphoric acid and potash are very small and though there 

 is a notable amount of lime, we are unable to speak definitely- as to its availability. 

 My opirion, therefore, is that the fertilizing value of the^e ashes is negligable. On 

 heavy clay soils, however, they might be of some benefit in improving the texture. 



FODDEKS AND FEEDING STUFFS. 



Though we have never attempted any systematic or comprehensive examination of 

 the feeding stuffs sold in Canada, we have every year analysed many of them regarding 

 which information and advice have been sought. The use of concentrated feed stufi's 

 to supplement the protein and fat of the home grown fodders, and thus balance the 

 ration, is constantly on the increase. Only a few years ago the feeds employed by 

 farmers and dairymen were very limited in number and comparatively simple in cha- 

 racter — ^bran, shorts, provender and ground Indian corn ; these, with the addition of oil 

 cake and one or two meals, comprised the list of those upon the market. But the case 

 is very difi'erent now. The by-products of the starch factories, of the rice mills, of the 

 manufactories of breakfast foods, etc., etc., now find a ready sale. These various feeds 

 differ widely in their composition, and hence in their nutritive value, and the farmer 

 cannot intelligently or profitably use them unless he knows their composition, more 

 especially as to the percentages of protein and fat they contain. The protein and fat 

 are the most important and the most costly nutriments in a food. There are, of course, 

 other constituents of feeding value in these ' concentrates,' but in estimating the value 

 of these feeds it is the proportion of protein and fat that must be principally consid- 

 ered, as it is for them practically alone that they are purchased, for the reason already 

 stated. 



For a number of years the writer has claimed that an annual inspection and ana- 

 lysis of the feeds upon the Canadian market should be made; in other words, thai> iHP 

 there is an ofiicial examination of fertilizers (plant foods), so there should be an equal 

 protection to the farmer by the official examination of these feeds (cattle foods), for in 

 many instances it is quite impossible to arrive at a correct opinion as to the value of 

 these by-products without an analysis. This matter has also been recently urged by 

 the authorities of the Ontario Agricultural College and the Experimental Union — a 

 society of co-operative workers in connection with that institution. 



It is, therefore, with much pleasure that I can announce as a result of these re- 

 presentations that the Department of Inland Revenue, the branch of the Government 

 Service which annually analyses the commercial fertilizers, has taken initiatory steps 

 towards this end. A collection is now being made by the officers of that department in 

 various parts of Canada of these feeding stuffs and the analyses will be made in due 

 course. I am, further, authorized to say that the results of this examination will be 

 published early in the coming year in bulletin form, and thus will be available for the 

 guidance of purchasers. 



During the past year a number of such feeding stuffs have been submitted to us. 

 As far as time permitted, these have been analysed. The results appear in the sub- 

 joined table, but since in previous reports the sources and character of the greater 

 number of them have received discussion, it will only be necessary now to add briefly 

 remarks upon their comparative values as deduced from the analytical data. They 

 comprise ' mixed ' feeds of various character, the products of the starch factories 

 (gluten meal, gluten feed, and corn bran), oil cake and meals, cotton seed meals and 

 a few other miscellaneous feeds. Much of the profit in dairying and stock feeding lies 

 in the judicious balancing of the ration, and we feel assured that great assistance 

 towards that end may be obtained by a consultation of the data here presented. 



