FARMERS' INSTITUTES. 91 



the chemist of the station, and sets forth in clear and simple language 

 the various classes of feeding stuffs offered in the market, with sugges- 

 tions as to what to buy and what to let alone. 



In this class, oat feeds or corn-oat feeds, the by-products of the oat 

 meal factories, play an important role. Oat hulls are the dominant 

 features of some of these feeds. The crude fiber in some of them runs 

 very high, showing that oat hulls have been added to dilute otherwise 

 good feeding stuff's; such feeds as the Victor, C. and 0. feeds and the 

 Koyal Oat feed come in this class. The latter contains 25 per cent of 

 crude fibre, an amount so large as to show that it is made up very large- 

 ly of oat hulls. It should be remembered in this connection that, for the 

 most part, these purchased feeding stuffs are bought for the protein 

 they contain, and if the feeding stuff contains less than 12 to 15 per cent 

 of protein it ought not to be considered at all. 



The feeds which excel in the amount of protein are the cotton-seed 

 and linseed meals. They run from 'S'S per cent to 46 per cent protein 

 and supply this much needed nutrient at a lower price per pound than 

 any other feeding stuffs oft'ered. Next these oil meals come the gluten 

 meals, the Atlas gluten meal being the richest in protein of theni all. 

 This product is unfortunate in containing a very high per cent of crude 

 fibre which, undoubtedly, lessens the digestibility of the other factors. 



An examination of the tables published in the bulletin shows that 

 there is no relation between the price of the feeding stuff and its real 

 value as measured in protein content. Some of the by-products of these 

 factories are given a high sounding name and meet with wide sale, be- 

 cause they are widely advertised. The business farmer will purchase 

 none of these unless he has a guaranteed analysis; then he should com- 

 pare the pounds of protein he can buy for a dollar in cotton seed meal, 

 wheat bran, linseed meal, or even oats. The beautiful name adds noth- 

 ing to the feeding value of the stuff. The old Latin adage "Let the 

 buyer beware," applies here. 



BEET PULP. 



The installation of so many sugar factories provides, as one of the by- 

 products, a material of no inconsiderable value — -beet puip. This is a 

 very watery production containing, as usually delivered from the spout 

 of the factory, not far from 93 pounds of water per hundred pounds of 

 feed. When the water is extracted, the dry material has a composition 

 almost identical with that of the dry material of corn silage, except per- 

 haps that the crude fiber is somewhat larger. Our experiments indicate 

 first, that livestock are fond of beet pulp; next, that, when either dairy 

 cows or steers are put into the stable in the fall from the pasture, this 

 very succulent food prevents the usual shrinkage and keeps the weight 

 more nearly constant than anything else I have ever fed, with the pos- 

 sible exception of corn silage; third, the feeding value of pulp to fatten 

 cattle seems to lie very largely in its effect on the health and appetite 

 of the animal. It possesses so little dry matter in the amount which 

 a steer can take in a day. but very little importance can be attached to 

 that side of its work. It does keep the bowels in perfect condition and 

 keeps the animal from getting off its feed. 



The experiments with the pulp are still in progress and I do not pro- 



