ANIMAL PRODUCTION. 287 



waxes and resins serve as a i^rotection against drying winds and severe weather, and 

 all the oaks have more or less of them. 



"As compared with the crude fiber and resuis, tannin of oak leaves, as l)efore stated, 

 is not only bitter and astringent, but interferes with digestion. ... In summing 

 up the value of the forage oaks, from chemical analyses and observations in the field, 

 the conclusion is reached that the facts observed in the field coincide in most cases 

 with those determined by analysis. For instance, the deciduous oaks possess a 

 higln>r luitritive value than the live oaks and are, as would be expected, more readily 

 eaten by horses, cattle, sheep, and goats. In some cases, however, certain physical 

 conditions modify these relations. This is true in the case of the live oaks. These 

 contain a sufKciently high proportion of nutrients, and yet only sheei? and goats 

 thrive upon them. This is due to the thick, harsh leaves with their spinescent teeth, 

 which prevent horses and cattle from relishing them. 



"Although all stock prefer the deciduous oaks of the higher altitutles, yet indis- 

 criminate pasturing causes much damage to the forests and ground-cover. When 

 sheep and goats are allowed to browse on the deciduous oaks of the timbered area, 

 they kill the seedling conifers by nibl)ling and tramj^ling, kill the shrubs by over- 

 browsing, and cut up the slopes in trails which become deep gullies during the rainy 

 season. This could be avoided by pasturing the sheep and goats on the ' live oaks' 

 of the lower chaiaiiaral or brush areas, the only necessary precaution being to prevent 

 too many congregating in one 2:)lace, thus avoiding too much trampling and gullying. 



"Since cattle and horses are unable to thrive on the live oaks, and since they do 

 not browse close enough to kill shrubs, never browse on young conifers, nor cut up 

 slopes by trails, they may profitably be pastured on the timbered areas and on the 

 higher altitudes. Thus, this oak area, comprising half the whole State, can, by a 

 conservative and well-regulated system of browsing, be made to pasture sheep and 

 goats throughout the year, and all stock during the summer months; and also dur- 

 ing seasons of drought or when winter conditions make other feed inaccessible." 



Feeding stuff inspection, C. D. Woods and J. M. Baktlett ( Maine Stu. Bui. 

 9i^, pp. 53-6S). — In accordance with the State feeding stuff law, analyses w^ere made 

 of a large number of samples of concentrated feeding stuffs sent by correspondents 

 and collected by the Station, including cotton-seed meal, linseed meal, flax meal, 

 gluten meals and feeds, Fourex (dried distillers' grains), bran, red dog flour, meat 

 meal, animal meal, beef scraps, bone and meat meal, mixed feeds, proprietary feeds, 

 cereal breakfast food by-products, and calf meal. In general it is noted that the 

 amount of impure cotton-seed meal sold in the State was a very small percentage of 

 the whole, and that the feeding stuffs compared favorably with the guaranteed 

 composition. 



"In the fall of 1899 the State was flooded with low grade, adulterated wheat brans 

 and mixed feeds. Because of the publicity given to these fraudulent goods and the 

 cooperation of the best of the large dealers, they have quite largely disappeared, or 

 are sold under a proper guaranty. There is so much profit in selling ground corn 

 cobs and broom corn at the price of wheat bran that the consumer must ever be on 

 tlie watch against this fraud. The safest thing is to buy only well-known reliable 

 brands of this class of goods." 



The feeding value of the -dried distillers' grains was tested with 6 cows, all in milk, 

 for about 3 months. They had been fed a mixture of wheat l)ran, cotton-seed meal, 

 and linseed meal, 2 : 2 . 1, in addition to corn silage and mixed hay. Dried distillers' 

 grain mixed with bran in the proportion of 30 to 5 was gradually substituted for 

 this and fed for 22 days, and was then gradually replaced by the first ration. The 

 total milk yield for 22 days on the oil meal ration (comprising 11 days before and 

 11 days after the period on dried distillers' grain) was 2,879.2 lbs. The total milk 

 yiel<l in the same time on distillers' grain was 2,989.8 lbs. In other words, the cows 

 maintained their milk yield on th(} dried distillers' grains. This feed, according to 



