16 The Bulletin. 



grains, rice hulls, and a few have a small amount of salt added to 

 them. 



Molasses is a carbohydrate, and when properly mixed with mate- 

 rials which contain protein and fat makes a very satisfactory feed. 

 The only danger in buying this class of goods is that some manufac- 

 turers use the molasses to cover up worthless adulterants in the feeds. 



Mill screenings have been found to compose a large part of some of 

 these feeds. This introduces into the feed a large quantity of weed 

 seeds. Experiments at several stations have shown that in many 

 cases weed seeds when fed to animals are not affected by the digestive 

 process, and hence a large amount of viable weed seeds are left in the 

 manure. When feeds contain considerable amounts of weed seeds 

 the purchaser is not only paying for worthless materials, but is in- 

 troducing weeds on his land. Oat hulls, barley hulls and rice hulls, 

 all of which are practically worthless as feeds, have been found in 

 considerable quantities in some of these feeds. 



From the tabulated analyses it will be seen that there are several 

 brands of molasses feeds on the market which are of good quality, and 

 it will also be seen that there are several brands in which the molasses 

 is used merely as a cover for low-grade materials and adulterants. 

 The samples of Mueller's Molasses Grains examined show this brand 

 to be a uniformly low grade and adulterated product. With the ex- 

 ception of this brand the molasses feeds examined this year show a 

 decided improvement over last year in the ingredients of which they 

 are composed. This is particularly noticeable in the amount of weed 

 seeds present. The quantity found this year is not only less, but in 

 many instances the screenings carrying these seeds have been ground, 

 which prevents them from spreading noxious weeds on the farm. 



The feeds sold as "Dairy Feeds" are usually from three to five per 

 cent higher in protein than those sold as "Feeds" and "Horse and 

 Mule Feeds." They contain some concentrated material such as cot- 

 ton-seed meal or oil meal which increases the per cent of protein. 



Several brands of these feeds contain a small amount of salt, rang- 

 ing from one-half to one per cent. This is added to make the feed 

 more appetizing to the animal and is not objectionable when only a 

 small amount is added and the fact plainly stated on the label. 



ALFALFA FEEDS. 



The rapid growth of the industry of grinding alfalfa hay into meal 

 has recently put on the market a large number of mixed feeds in 

 which alfalfa is the principal ingredient. Various materials are 

 mixed with the meal to increase the percentage of fat and make them 

 more nearly balanced feeds. The materials which have been found 

 in the brands on the markets are as follows: Cracked corn, oats, oat 

 products, cotton-seed meal, linseed meal, corn meal, dried brewers' 

 grains, wheat bran and middlings. As will be seen from the analysis, 



