land experiment station directors 

 in 1896, and, as a result, in the fol- 

 lowing year, Massachusetts passed 

 the first feed control law in the 

 country. Other states soon followed 

 suit, until now almost every state 

 has a feed control law. 



The first Massachusetts law mere- 

 ly authorized the collection and 

 analysis of feed samples with subse- 

 quent publication of results. Inas- 

 much as no provision was made for 

 a penalty for misbranded feed and 

 the manufacturer was not required 

 to state guarantees, the law was in- 

 effective in restraining the practices 

 of unscrupulous manufacturers. 



Chemical analysis and microsco- 

 pic examination of samples collected 

 from all parts of the state by the 

 feed inspector are now made to de- 

 termine whether the feeds are cor- 

 rectly labelled. 



From Simple to Complex 



Until a comparatively few years 

 ago the inspection and analysis of 

 feeds was a relatively simple matter. 

 The manufacturer guaranteed pro- 

 tein, fat, fiber, and carbohydrate or 

 nitrogen-free extract. Before the 

 recognition of the importance of 

 vitamins, trace minerals, drugs, and 

 antibiotics in animal nutrition, the 



control official had no particular dif- 

 ficulty in substantiating or refuting 

 the manufacturer's claims. 



A list of the determinations made 

 by the Control Service now indicates 

 how much times have changed. The 

 list includes tests for moisture, pro- 

 tein, fat, fiber, ash, calcium, cobalt, 

 copper, fluorine, iodine, iron, mag- 

 nesium, manganese, nickel, phos- 

 phorus, salt, sand, zinc, vitamin A, 

 vitamin D, carotene, choline, ribo- 

 flavin, enheptin, nitrophenide, ni- 

 trosal, sulfaquinoxaline, and urea. 

 Microscopic examination includes 

 the identification of feed ingredients 

 and the identification and count of 

 whole noxious weed seeds. 



Minerals Vital in Nutrition 



You may be wondering about the 

 importance of these factors in ani- 

 mal nutrition and the necessity for 

 making all these determinations. A 

 few examples may explain this. 



There are extensive areas in the 

 Northeast known to have soils de- 

 ficient in cobalt. Other such areas 

 probably will be discovered. Rum- 

 inants, such as cattle and sheep, 

 grazing upon the forage in these 

 areas develop loss of appetite and 

 anemia: in extreme cases, the ani- 

 mals die. An unbelievably small 

 amount of cobalt is sufficient to 

 remedy this. It is calculated that 

 one ounce of cobalt distributed daily 

 among 280,000 sheep will maintain 

 good health. At present almost all 

 dairy and sheep rations contain 

 small amounts of added cobalt. 



Many of the other minerals men- 

 tioned are necessary in larger quan- 

 tities and play a role in animal nu- 

 trition that is just as vital as that of 

 cobalt. Claims are made for the 

 presence of afi these minerals in 



Obtaining a feed sample. Feeds must be 

 labelled and registered before sold. 



