21 

 Results of the Inspection. 



The Feeding Stuffs Act now on the statute books was conceived and drafted 

 with the intention of requiring that certain definite statements in the form of a 

 guarantee be attached to each and every package of feeding stuffs offered for 

 sale, in order to enable the purchaser to have some knowledge of the character 

 of the goods purchased. The content of such a guarantee must be information 

 that can be easily obtained by the manufacturer, easily understood by the con- 

 sumer, and of such a nature that adequate inspection and checking up of the 

 guarantee is jjossible. A more elaborate guarantee might be required which 

 through the difficulty of checking by inspection officials would lead unscrupu- 

 lous manufacturers to make exaggerated claims with full confidence that they 

 would not be brought to account for such statements. 



It is contended that the requirement of a guarantee of protein, fat and 

 fiber content, with a statement of ingredients used, gives the purchaser a fair 

 idea of the quality of a feed and admits of an adequate inspection. Digestibility, 

 the exact percentage of each ingredient, standards for special purpose feeds, 

 ■ash and vitamin sufficiency, and a balanced protein content are either impracti- 

 cal from an inspection standpoint, or dependent upon other factors, such as 

 the home grown food supply; so that no good purpose can be served by includ- 

 ing such statements in a guarantee. Whatever is said in this publication has to 

 do with the relation of feeds to their guarantees, irrespective of their relative 

 m'erits as feeding stuffs. 



It is of interest to note that there has been a consistent drop in the percentage 

 of feedstuffs deficient in their protein, fat and fiber guarantees during the past 

 three years. In 1925, 8 per cent of the feeds collected were found deficient; in 

 1926, 7 per cent; and in 1927, 41/2 per cent. The figures for 1927 are given in 

 detail in a preceding table. 



In accordance with our usual custom, where samples did not conform to their 

 guarantees within reasonable limits, additional samples were drawn under the 

 authority of the Fedei^al Food and Dinigs Law, for which the Control Service is 

 authorized to act. Twenty-three samples were taken, classified as follows: 



Cottonseed meal . 

 Wheat bran 

 Wheat middlings . 

 Dairy rations 



To date this work has resulted in the seizure of two shij^ments of cottonseed 

 meal and one shipment of wheat middlings. 



During the year attention was drawn to the fact that wheat bran and wheat 

 middlings imported from Argentina were being sold in 45 kilo sacks, the equiva- 

 lent of 99.2 pounds in English weight. Test weights on one entire car and of 

 one hundred sacks each from two other cars showed that the average weight was 

 less than the 45 kilos stated, while the product was in some instances being 

 sold as weighing 100 pounds to the sack. 



In accordance with Massachusetts law, the metric system cannot be used in 

 marking the net weight of packages offered for sale unless the equivalent in 

 pounds or ounces be stated in an equally conspicuous manner. It is understood 

 that further shipments will carry 46 kilos (101.4 pounds) to the sack, which 

 after deducting the weight of the sack itself will make the net about 100 pounds. 



Feeds found below guarantee, in terms of percentage: 



All other groups were found satisfactory. 



Of the cottonseed meals collected, 15.3 per cent were deficient in protein, not 

 altogether a good record. As a group they are only exceeded by the stock feeds 

 in variations from guarantee, 17.4 per cent of the stock feeds showing either 

 deficiency in protein or fat or an excess of fiber. In most instances the stock 



