1078 EXPERIMENT STATION RECORD. 



The feeding stuffs examined were cottonseed meal, linseed meal, gluten 

 meals, gluten feed, wheat bran, wheat middlings, Red dog, mixed feeds, 

 miscellaneous concentrated feeds, corn meal, oat feeds, corn and oat 

 feeds, corn, oat, and barley feeds, hominy feeds, miscellaneous starchy 

 feeding stuffs, and poultry foods. Among the suggestions drawn from 

 the examination were the following : 



"Farmers are especially cautioned against adulterated cotton-seed meal. Samples 

 of this substance were found in a large number of towns, especially in northeastern 

 Massachusetts, during the spring months. Sea-island cotton seed, so called, is also 

 very much inferior to the genuine material. . . . It is . . . only one-half as valua- 

 ble as the prime article. It is evidently prepared by grinding the black hulls quite 

 fine and mixing them with the yellow meal. The resulting product is as a rule of 

 a darker yellow than the pure meal. Samples of adulterated meal have also been 

 found that were bright yellow. This meal had either been. artificially colored or 

 mixed with some inferior substance other than hulls. We urge purchasers to buy 

 only the guaranteed article, and to absolutely refuse the uubrauded meal. Pure 

 cotton-seed meal is one of the very cheapest concentrated feed stuffs. Linseed 

 meals, branded gluten meals, and gluten feeds examined show no adulterations. 

 Wheat bran, middlings, and, with a few exceptions, mixed feeds, have not been 

 found to contain any foreign admixtures. Heilman's mixed feed was found to be of 

 very poor quality. It coutained a large amount of woody material, of very little 

 feeding value. Several unmarked mixed feeds were similarly adulterated. The 

 Lexington mixed feed showed several per cent less protein than the average. Many 

 unbranded oat feeds have been found to contain as high as 65 per cent of hulls and 

 only from 5 to 7 per cent of protein. Such foods prove costly at prices asked for 

 them. See more extended remarks under analyses of these feeds." 



Dried grains as a substitute for hay, J. A. Voelcker (Jour. Roy. 

 Agr. Soc. England, 3. ser., 9 (1898), pt. 4, pp. 768-774). — A test was 

 made with steers at the Woburn Farm to learn how far dried brewers' 

 grains could advantageously replace hay in a time of scarcity. Sixteen 

 Shorthorn 3-year-old steers were divided into 2 lots of 8 each. Four 

 animals of each lot were fed in stalls, 2 in sheds, and 2 in open yards. 

 The test began December 22, 1897, and was divided into two periods 

 of 40 and 70 days, respectively. During the first period lot 1 was fed 

 dried brewers' grains ad libitum, and lot 2 cut hay ad libitum. In 

 addition each lot at the beginning of the test was fed 3 lbs. decorti- 

 cated cotton-seed cake, 3 lbs. of maize meal, and 28 lbs. of Swedish 

 turnips. After about 6 weeks the grains were each increased to 4 

 lbs. and the Swedish turnips to 35 lbs. After a time mangel- wurzels 

 were substituted for Swedish turnips, and in the latter half of the 

 period linseed cake was added to the ration. During the test lot 1 

 consumed 4,178 lbs. dried brewers' grains and the average daily gain 

 per steer was 2.18 lbs. Lot 2 consumed 5,820 lbs. of hay, the aver- 

 age daily gain per steer being 3.05 lbs. The cost of the gain is dis- 

 cussed and it appeared that the more economical gains were made with 

 hay. From this test, " as also from general observations through- 

 out the experimental period, it was shown that in steer feeding it does 

 not do to replace hay entirely by dried grains." The test was con- 

 tinued with the same steers to see whether dried brewers' grains might 

 not to advantage replace hay in part. The steers in lot 1 were fed 5 lbs. 



