INSPECTION OF COMMERCIAL FEEDSTUFFS 



By Philip H. Smith 1 



This bulletin is a record of the work accomplished in checking the sales of 

 commercial feeding stuffs in Massachusetts against the requirements of the 

 Feeding Stuffs Act. It is simply that and nothing more. While it is true that 

 one feed may prove superior to another containing identical amounts of protein, 

 fat, and fiber, it is also true that no adequate methods have been devised that 

 can be used in the laboratory in the handling of a large number of feed samples 

 for the determination of quality factors other than those required by the present 

 guarantee. Such methods if they exist at all are usually slow and cumbersome 

 and if used would limit the work to a very few samples of feed, while the law 

 states explicitly that every brand of feed registered shall be examined annually. 

 The value of a feed depends not only upon its protein, fat, fiber, ash, and in- 

 gredient content, but also upon the kind and quality of the protein, fat, fiber, 

 and ash, the quality of the ingredients, the vitamin content, and quite possibly 

 upon other factors not now recognized. 



While it is true that feeding stuffs legislation as it now exists on the statute 

 books of the various states has decided limitations, it is equally true that the 

 information now required in the guarantee is of importance to the prospective 

 purchaser. Recognizing the limitations of present feeding stuffs law, an attempt 

 will be made at the next session of the Legislature to bring the act more nearly 

 up to date and to couch the act in such terms as to allow the enforcing official 

 to keep pace with scientific progress in advisable guarantee requirements without 

 future amendment of the law. 



Through long experience a feed control official will come to understand that 

 the names of certain manufacturers when attached to a sack of feed are in them- 

 selves a guarantee of quality. Any further information is extraneous. Such 

 manufacturers maintain their own laboratories and experimental farms and 

 utilize in the making of their products new scientific discoveries as they come to 

 light. It is to be regretted that others not so ethical in their conduct continue 

 in business. 



To date (September 1, 1941) 1,311 brands of feeding stuffs have been registered 

 for sale in Massachusetts for the current year. The intention is to collect at least 

 one sample of each feed registered, which has not proved possible. It is believed, 

 however, that the feeds herein reported represent the greater part of the tonnage 

 sold. In addition, this report includes the assay of 12 samples of vitamin feeding 

 oil and the analysis of nine samples of feeding molasses. 



'The following staff members assisted in the inspection: John W. Kuzmeski, H. Robert DeRose, 

 Albert F. Spelman, Leo V. Crowley, and Francis J. Farren. chemists; Frederick A. McLaughlin, 

 microscopist; James T. Howard, inspector; Cora B. Grover, Clerk. 



