ANIMAL PRODUCTION. 465 



of those fomls. Howovor, since tlie niamifactnrers do not make special claims 

 for nuti'itive i)roi)erties in tlieir ' foods," this fact is not very important, and 

 the value of the condimental stoclv foods nnist be decided on the basis of the 

 medicinal properties of the druses l^inser, sentian, fenugreek, pepper, sulphur, 

 and similar materials] contained therein." 



Data regarding the character of the ingredients in condimental stock foods, 

 the results obtained in feeding tests with such materials, and formulas for 

 making such foods at home are summarized. The author's conclusions follow : 



Stock foods are of no benefit to healthy animals when fed according to manii- 

 facturers' directions " either as to increasing the digestibility of the feed eaten 

 or rendering it more effective for the production of meat, milk, wool, etc. 



" They are of no benefit as a cure-all for diseases of the various classes of 

 live stock ; neither do they possess any particular merit in case of specific dis- 

 eases, or for animals out of condition, off feed, etc., since only a small propor- 

 tion of ingredients having medicinal value is found therein, the bulk of the 

 foods consisting of a filler which possesses no medicinal properties whatever. 



" Exorbitant prices are charged for these foods, as is natural, considering 

 the extensive advertising the manufacturers are doing, and the liberal commis- 

 sions which they pay agents' and dealers. The large sales of stock foods are 

 doubtless mainly to be attributed to these facts. 



" By adopting a liberal system of feeding farm animals and furnishing a 

 variety of feeds, good results may be obtained without resorting to stock foods 

 of any kind. If a farmer believes it is necessary to feed stock foods at times, 

 he can purchase the ingi-edients at a drug store and make his own stock foods 

 at a fraction of the cost charged for them by the manufacturers. He will then 

 have the additional satisfaction of knowing just what he is feeding, and of feed- 

 ing a concentrated ' food ' instead of one largely diluted with nonmediciual 

 ingredients." 



Commercial feeding- stuflfs, J. L. Hills and C. H. Jones {Vermont Sta, 

 Bill. 131, pp. S, figs. 2). — Of the 112 samples of commercial feeding stuffs exam- 

 ined under the provisions of the State law, 45 represented guaranteed goods 

 (cotton-seed meal, linseed meal, gluten feed, distillers' dried grains, brewers' 

 dried grains, molasses feed, alfalfa feed, hominy feed, cereal breakfast food by- 

 products, and animal meals) and the remainder unguaranteed feeds, namely, 

 wheat offals and home-grown provenders. Of 14 samples of cotton-seed goods 

 S were below guaranty, as were also 4 of the 5 samples of distillers' grains, a 

 sample of oat feed and molasses feed, and a sample of alfalfa meal. The mixed 

 feeds, bran, middlings, red dog fiour, and the provenders of local manufacture 

 were found to be of good grade. 



A large proportion of the samples were also examined as to their weed seed 

 content and germination, and the viability of the seeds and character of the 

 weeds tested in pot experiments. " The by-products of the oil mills, the dis- 

 tilleries and the breweries, of the glucose and hominy works, and of several 

 flour mills passed muster; but a single oat feed, a guaranteed wheat (mixed) 

 feed, and every molasses feed carried more or less weed seeds, and these were 

 viable, able to germinate and flourish . . . save in one case. . . . 



" The buyer of a ton of one brand of these molasses feeds puxx-hased therein 

 three weed seeds for every square foot of a hundred-acre farm. . . . 



" It is a matter of common knowledge that there are sold yearly hundreds of 

 cai'loads of wheat screenings (which being interpreted means in the main weed 

 seeds screened from wheat prior to the milling process). Sheep and poultry 

 han<lle them well ; but the digestive system of neither horse nor cow is able to 

 destroy them. To employ materials carrying viable weed seed in the mixture 



