No. 6. DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE. 241 



Q. How cau this be told? 



A. By microscopic exam i nation by an expert. 



Q. Is there not an adulteration with i)laster sometimes found? 



A. In an examination of wheat middlings I have found an adultera- 

 tion with plaster. 



Q. Doesn't the hominy meal have less water? 



A. I have not noticed much difference. 



Mr. Ferree: The difference in water content of hominy chop and 

 corn meal is due to the fact that the former is kiln-dried, while the 

 latter is air dried. As the consumer almost invariably gets his 

 hominy before hygroscopic equilibrium is established, the lower 

 water content is fully accounted for. It is well worth while to note 

 the water values in studying the compositions of feeding stuffs, and 

 those articles of similar character carrying the lowest averages in 

 water should be preferred. 



Q. Is it right to say that the carbohydrates are worth nothing if 

 they cannot be sold? 



A. I am not a friend to the scheme of valuing cattle foods on the 

 basis of protein alone, because in New York w^e can sell any carbohy- 

 drate at a big price, and we think that when we buy them we ought 

 to give them some credit. So basing the value upon the protein 

 alone simply ignores the carbohydrates and assumes them to be of 

 no value, which is wrong. 



Q. We have carbohydrates to burn, as evidenced by the cattle 

 being turned out to get the fresh air. 



A. A woman who married three husbands and cremated them all 

 had husbands to burn, but that don't signify that they were pretty 

 good husbands and worth something. If it is true that the carbo- 

 hydrates on the farm cannot be sold and because of their super- 

 abundance are worth nothing, then purchase should be with refer- 

 ence to protein. 



Q. Should not the consideration also be kept in mind that there 

 is a fertilizing value that the carbohydrates do not possess? 



A. Yes, that is true. I feel that by a study of the conditions a 

 man must decide whether he ought to buy carbohydrates or protein 

 foods. If he believes that he ought to buy protein foods he can buy 

 them of the best digestible matter; but, I do not see how he can make 

 a comparison betw'een protein and carbohydrates and have it mean 

 very much. 



Mr. McSparran: We Pennsylvania dairymen are in the corn belt 

 and put an abundance of corn in our silos. We raise a abundance 

 of corn which we husk and cure in the old way so that our cows have 

 all the ensilage and cut corn fodder needed, and I am not speaking 

 beyond the bounds of reason when I say that practically we have car- 

 bohydrates to burn. Our only consideration is to balance that up 

 by the most economical protein. 

 16—6—1901 



