EXPERIMENT STATION BULLETINS 



ANALYSES OF SOME OF THE COMMERCIAL FEEDING STUFFS 



OF MICHIGAN. 



FLOYD W. ROBISOX, B. S., CHEMIST, 



Bulletin No. 203. 



The feeding stufifs of which the analyses are reported in this bulletin 

 were purchased in the open market in various parts of the State by 

 fanners and feeders and samples sent to the station for analysis. 



No attempt has been made to make a careful canvass of the State nor 

 to secure samples of all feeding stuffs offered in Michigan markets. 



The thanks of the station are due to the persons who have so far in- 

 terested themselves in The matter as to send samples of the feeds pur- 

 chased. 



Definition of Terms. 



There are several techni<-al terms that must be used in the discussion 

 of the composition of feeding stuffs. These terms were defined at some 

 length in bulletin 149 (Report for 1898. i)age 250), now out of print. A 

 brief definition of these terms therefore follows : 



1. Water. — All feeds contain more or less water depending on their 

 nature and on the treatment they have undergone. The so-called dry feeds, 

 like hay or cornmeal, will contain from five to fifteen per cent, of water, 

 while corn silage has in every hundred pounds fully eighty pounds of 

 water and a hundred pounds of such roots as turnips may contain ninety 

 pounds of water. Beet puli), as it leaves the factory, usually has about 

 93 per cent, of water. It is this water that gives the succulent character 

 to roots, silage, beet pulp and like materials. Just to what degree this 

 succulent character is an advantage has not been fully determined. 



2. Protein. — The protein or nitrogenous part of the feeding stuff is 

 the part of it which corresponds to the lean meat, the white of eggs, or 

 cheese, in the human dietar}. Its distinguishing characteristic is that 

 it is the only part of the material which contains nitrogen. It is. in 

 the North, at least, the most expensive constituent of the feeding stuff 

 and the one in which the grasses and grains of the farm are most lacking. 



It is the protein of the food that is used by the system to replace 

 waste muscle and tissue, to supply the casein of milk, and is essential 

 to carry forward the activity of the vital organs. 



Experiments almost without number have demonstrated that dairy 

 cows need large quantities of protein in their daily ration, the amounts 

 varying from one and one-half to three j^ouuds, depending on the amount 

 of milk secreted and the size of the cow. Fattening steers, lambs and 

 swine need a less amount per thousand pounds live weight, but even 

 with fattening animals there is need of much more protein than is usually 

 found present in the hay, cornstalks and corn, constituting the ordinary 

 ration for such animals on the Michigan farms. The commercial feeding 

 ■'ituffs arc purchased to supply this lack of protein. 



