420 



THE FARMER'S MAGAZINE. 



STEAM-Cui.Ti\ AToKs.— Sir Aiclii'oalJ Macdunald, 

 Bart., as Senior Steward of Implements for the Chester 

 Meeting, having represented the importance of an effi- 

 cient trial of Steam-Cultivators at ihe Chester Meeting, 

 the following resolution on the motion of Mr. Thompson, 

 seconded by Mr. Miles, M.P., was carried unani- 

 mously : — " That a committee be appointed consisting 

 of the Implement Committee, with the addition of Mr. 

 Caldsvell and Mr. Huskinson, to consider the memorial 

 presented by four owners of steam ploughs, and to en- 

 deavour to secure an efBcient trial of steam ploughs or 

 cultivating implements at the Chester Meeting." 



Steward of Poultry. — On the motion of Sir 



rchibald Macdonald, Bart., seconded by Mr. Fisher 

 Hobbs, Mr. Harcourt Powell, of Drinkstone Park, 

 Suffolk, was unanimously appointed Steward of Poultry 

 for the Chester Meeting. 



Vice-President.— On the motion of Mr. Jonas, 

 seconded by Mr. Torr, his Grace the Duke of Rutland 

 was unanimously elected one of the Vice-Presidents of 

 the Society, in the place cf the late Lord Braybrooke. 



Member of Council. — On the motion of Mr. Torr, 

 seconded by the Hon. A. Leslie Melville, Mr. Hutton, 

 of Gate Burton, Lincolnshire, was elected one of the 

 General Members of Council, in the place of the late 

 Mr. Stephen Mills. 



GuTTA Percha. — A communication from the So- 

 ciety of Arts on the supply of Gutta Percha, and its 

 employment in the manufacture of agricultural tubing, 

 was referred to the Implement Committee. 



Thrashing Machines. — Suggestions for the trial 

 of thrashing machines were received from Mr. Algernon 

 Clarke, and also referred to the Implement Committee. 

 Adjourned to May 12. 



A Weekly Council was held on Wednesday, the 

 12th of May, present : Lord Berners, President, in the 

 Chair, Duke of Rutland, Lord Camoys, Lord Walsing- 

 ham, Hon. A. Leslie Melville, Hon. Colonel Hood, 

 lion. William George Cavendish, M.P,, Mr. Raymond 

 Barker, Mr. Brandreth, Mr. Davey, M.P., Mr. 

 Brandreth Gibbs, Mr. Glegg, Mr. James Howard, 

 Mr. Fisher Hobbs, Mr. Huttou, Mr. Pinder Simp- 

 son, Mr. Slaney, M.P., Mr. Tanner, Colonel 

 Towneley, Mr. Wilson (of Stowlapgtoft), and Mr. 

 George Wood. 



Professor Voelcker, the Consulting-Chemist of 

 the Society, transmitted the following reports of his 

 recent investigations on the subject of cotton-seed cake 

 for feeding cattle, and on the fabrication of spurious 

 guanos, so completely similar in external characters to 

 the genuine articles as to have deceived the most 

 experienced dealers, and to have their inferior value 

 detected only by means of chemical analysis. 



I.— COTTON-SEED CAKE. 

 I have the pleasure of submitting to the inspection of the 

 members of the Society copies of analyses of two samples 

 of a new kind of Cotton-seed cake. Both samples, under 

 the name of decorticated Cotton cakes, were lately offered 

 for sale at London and Liverpool respectively, An in- 

 spection of the subjoined analyses will show that this new 



kind of cake is superior in nutritive propeities to any 

 sample of Cotton-cake which I previously examined. It 

 will bs observed that both are extremely rich in llesh- 

 forming principles, as well as in oil and fatty matters. 

 Indeed both specimens of Cotton-cake contained a great 

 deal more of these valuable constituents than the best 

 Linseed-cake, and ought to be, according to the analyses, 

 more valuable as a feeding stuff than Linseed-cakc. I 

 would observe, however, that the analytical results ob- 

 tained in the examination of feeding stuffs like oilcake 

 are insufficient in themselves to determine their relative 

 practical feeding value. Various circumstances, too 

 numerous to he detailed in this place, affect the practical 

 value of articles of food. Thus llie oil in Cotton-cake 

 may not be so readily assimilated as the fatty matters in 

 Linseed-cake, or it may not agree with the constitution 

 of animals, or the cake maybe disliked by beasts and 

 sheep, or contain something or the other, not usually as- 

 certained by analysis, which may affect its practical 

 utility. Indeed nothing short of actual feeding experi- 

 ments will suffice to ascertain in a satisfactory manner 

 the comparative value of this Cotton-cake and Linseed- 

 cake. But as Cotton-cake, much inferior in composition 

 to the samples analyzed by me lately, has been used for 

 feeding purposes with considerable advantage, it is 

 hi^ihly probable that the experience of practical feeders 

 will prove that decorticated Cottoa-cake is an economical 

 substitute for the much more expensive Linseed-cake. 



Composition of two samples of decorticated Cotton-seed 



cake. No. I. No. II. 



Moisture 8.27 7.G7 



Od and fattcrs matters 19.19 U.93 



Mucilage, gum, and sugar 12.25 14.47 



* Protein compounds (flesh-forming 



principles) 42.G2 40.21 



Pure cellular fibre (woody fibre). . 10.22 11.45 



Inorgauic matters (ash) 7.45 8.27 



Containing nitrogen 



100.00 

 6.82 



100.00 

 6.91 



II.— SPURIOUS GUANO. 



Notwithstanding the facility of detecting admixtures in 

 genuine Peruvian Guano by simple chemical means, 

 fraudulent adulterations of this most important of all 

 artificial manures appear to continue unabated in some 

 quarters. During the last two months, more than ten 

 samples of factitious and of adulterated guanos were sent 

 to me for examination, which circumstance induces me 

 to direct again the attention of the members of the Society 

 to the subject of adulteration of guano. I have the plea- 

 sure of presenting for inspection several samples of bad 

 guanos, and have selected specimens which best illustrate 

 the peculiar character of the adulterating materials. An 

 analysis of each specimen is attached to the bottle con- 

 taining it. A comparison of the composition of these 

 adulterated manures with that of genuine Peruvian Guano, 

 of which a specimen is also exhibited, will show how 

 much money a purchaser loses in buying such bad guanos, 

 even if sold 21. or 41. less than Peruvian guano can be ob- 

 tained from Messrs. Gibbs and Co. At the same time it 

 will be evident to any one who examines by the unaided 

 senses the various specimens on the table, how utterly 

 impossible it is for any one to distinguish several of the 

 adulterated guanos from the genuine Peruvian. The fact 

 is, the guano-mixers have acquired such skill in their ne- 



