COMMERCIAL FEEDING STUFFS. 



Bulletin No. 276. 



BY ANDREW J. PATTEN^ E. F. BERGER, A. E. SMOLL 

 AND E. A. DE WINDT. 



The law regulating the licensing and sale of commercial feeding stuffs 

 and providing for the inspection and analysis of such feeding stuffs was 

 first enacted in 1905 and its administration was delegated to the Dairy 

 and Food Commissioner. By an amendment passed by the legislature 

 during the session of 1915, the Secretary of the State Board of Agri- 

 culture was made the administrative oflScer. The inspection and chemi- 

 cal analyses as well as all matters relating thereto are now performed 

 by the Chemical Division of the Experiment Station to whom all in- 

 quiries regarding the work should be addressed. 



The present law became operative August 20th, 1915, but as no funds 

 were transferred to the State Board of Agriculture it was not possible 

 to start the inspection work until suflBcient funds had accumulated from 

 license fees to cover the necessary' expenses. The first inspector began 

 work early in January, 1916, and in February three more inspectors 

 were put to work in order to cover the entire State as thoroughly as pos- 

 sible before the shipping season should close. Nearly 1,200 samples were 

 collected, of which, 1,0G0 have been analyzed. The results of the analyses 

 and comments thereon will be found in the following pages. 



The full text of the Feeding Stuffs law has been printed in pamphlet 

 form and copies may be obtained by addressing the Chemical Division, 

 Experiment Station, East Lansing, Michigan. Although the law has 

 been on the statute books for more than ten years there seems to be a 

 widespread misunderstanding of its requirements on the part of manu- 

 facturers, dealers and consumers. The more important points of the 

 law are, therefore, given special notice at this time. 



Label. The law requires that each package of commercial feeding 

 stuff shall bear, in a conspicuous place, a printed statement certifying 

 the number of net pounds in the package, the name or trade mark under 

 which it is sold, the name and principle address of the manufacturer or 

 shipper and a chemical analysis, stating the percentages of crude pro- 

 tein, crude fiber, ether extract (fat) and nitrogen-free extract (carbo- 

 hydrates). This information may be printed on the bag itself or on a 

 tag attached to the bag. When feed is sold in bulk this information 

 must be furnished to each purchaser. The law does not specify the 

 form of stating the guaranteed anah'sis but the following simple form is 

 recommended : 



