444 ANNUAL. REPORT OF THE Off. Doc. 



and the mixture sold as pure bran, while more often we find it sold 

 as "mixed feed" with some proprietary name attached. Within the 

 past ten days we have analyzed such a mixture, manufactured in 

 a Western state, and retailed in a neighboring city for |25 per ton. 

 The manufacturers guaranteed the mixture to contain 12,05 per cent, 

 of prottin and 3.2 per cent, of fat, and analysis showed that the com- 

 pany guaranteed the material correctly. To the untutored eye, the 

 mixture resembles bran and middlings, and undoubtedly the manu- 

 facturers find a ready market, although selling it with low guaran- 

 tees for protein and fat. 



The point which we wish to bring out at this time is that it is 

 important for the consumer to be thoroughy familiar with the aver- 

 age composition of the principal feeds on the market, so that when 

 he sees a mixture which resembles wheat bran and middlings, for 

 instance, guaranteed to contain only three-quarters of the amount or 

 protein that a mixture of pure bran and middlings should contain, 

 he will readily look upon such a feed as suspicious. I am sure no 

 one present can afford to buy a mixture of wheat bran and corn cob, 

 especially at |25 per ton. We were of the opinion that our feeding 

 stuffs law, which has been so effective in correcting many evils re- 

 garding the manufacture and sale of commercial feeding stuff's, 

 should be so amended that it will be a misdemeanor to sell a mix- 

 ture of wheat bran and corn cob as "mixed feed," or, to put it con- 

 cisely, tbe dealer ''should state what he sells and sell what he states." 

 We believe that the feed situation in the Commonwealth would be 

 much improved and the dairymen, especially, greatly benefited if our 

 law required that the component parts of a mixed feed should be 

 plainy stamped on the outside of the package in which it is sold, or 

 if sold in bulk or in sacks belonging to the purchaser, a similar state- 

 ment should be furnished upon his request. 



There seems to be much difficulty in maintaining the guarantees 

 for certain feeds composed of molasses and various by-products, 

 but the manufacturer should know the analysis of his finished prod- 

 uct, and knowing this, he can place a proper guarantee upon it. 

 Until a feed is manufactured which contains the guaranteed per- 

 centage of valuable food ingredients, farmers and dairymen ih par- 

 ticular cannot put the confidence in many of the feeds on the mar- 

 ket to which they should be entitled. Molasses feeds are palatable 

 and nutritious and good results are apparently secured in using 

 them. 



Within the past year many new feeds, composed largely of alfalfa 

 meal, have found their way into our State. We believe that it is 

 poor economy for the farmer to pay a large price not only for the 

 alfalfa, but for having it ground for him when the same material 

 can be produced on the farm at much less expense. Since wheat 

 bran is somewhat more valuable than alfalfa hay, ton for ton, we 

 cannot recommend these faieds at the prevailing prices. 



Time will not allow us to touch upon the standard goods, such as 

 cottonseed meal, linseed meal, distillery and brewery by-products, ex- 

 cept to say that these articles can usually be depended upon. They 

 are seldom adulterated, the guarantees are usually maintained and 

 they furnish the necessary protein for the least expenditure of 

 money. 



There is a class of articles on the market concerning which much 



