6 



On the contrary, farmers and dairymen should always aim at securing- a 

 fair quantity of protein in any food which is meant to supplement a ration 

 of corn fodder, hay, ensilage, or other home grown feeds. Pea bran, 

 however, is not entirely useless, and might, under certain conditions, 

 serve as a useful component in a maintenance diet. 



Mixed Chop. 



In the twenty-one samples of chop analysed the percentage of pro- 

 tein was found to vary between 8.37 and 20.66. The average protein 

 content of these samples was 12.81 per cent. A glance at the table will 

 show that what is ordinarily called chop Jmay be a mixture of various 

 grains grown on the farm. The mixture of oats and corn shows a low 

 protein content when compared, for example, with peas and oats. The 

 practical conclusion to be drawn from this fact is that the feeder should, 

 other conditions being equal, select the richer of the two to supplement a 

 ration made up largely of hay, ensilage, and roots, more especially if this 

 ration be intended for dairy cows. 



The above table of composition shows that chop is valuable food ; 

 and where the average farmer has an abundance of such food at his dis- 

 posal it would be folly for him to purchase many of the by-products at 

 present sold without any guarantee as to their composition. Further- 

 tnore, experiments conducted by Professor Day on fattening steers appear 

 to indicate that a ration containing a rather wide nutritive ratio will give 

 more economical gains than one possessing a relative narrow nutritive 

 ratio. For fattening purposes, therefore, we believe that chop, such as 

 mentioned in the foregoing table, would supply all the nitrogenous mater- 

 ial necessary. If, however, the production of milk were the object, then 

 it might be advisable to select a food containing a greater quantity of 

 protein. 



Wheat Middlings. 



Upon inspecting the analyses of the samples of middlings, recorded 

 in this Bulletin, the reader will be struck by the uniformly low percentage 

 of moisture. The average percentage of moisture recorded by American 

 chemists is approximately two per cent, higher than that found In the 

 twenty-one S£<mples analyzed in our laboratory. I may state that as 

 soon as these samples arrived in our laboratory they were at once placed 

 in bottles with ground glass stoppers to prevent any evaporation of mois- 

 ture, and in every case extreme care was exercised in determining ac- 

 curately the moisture content of the samples. The fact that any sample 

 of food contains a low per centage of moisture is of great importance to 

 the feeder, inasmuch as, other things being- equal, he obtains a larger 

 amount of nutritive material in a food containing a low percentage of 

 moisture than he would if the moisture content were even one per cent, 

 higher. 



