320 The Feeding of Animals 



point, are sometimes materially modified b}^ the cow's 

 food, information along this line is in a state of con- 

 fusion and inadeqnac}^ and it is not now possible to state 

 with any definiteness just what influence the various 

 feeding stuffs have upon the chemical and physical 

 properties of butter. Experimenters are fairly unani- 

 mous, however, in concluding that the liberal feeding 

 with 'cottonseed or cottonseed meal has the effect of 

 raising the melting point of butter and of diminishing 

 the percentage of the volatile fatty acids. On the other 

 hand, when gluten meal rich in oil has been intro- 

 duced into the ration in generous proportion, the 

 butter has been found to melt at a lower point, and 

 appeared softer. Certain chemical reactions indicate 

 that this decrease in the melting point has been accom- 

 panied in some cases at least by an increase in olein, 

 a fat which is a prominent constituent of olive oil, 

 and is liquid at ordinary temperatures. One set of 

 experiments, where gluten meal with different propor- 

 tions of oil was used, appears to warrant the conclusion 

 that the softening of the butter from feeding this ma- 

 terial is not marked when its percentage of fat is 

 small, as is the case with some brands of gluten meal 

 at the present time. The conclusion which has been 

 reached as a result of some experiments, that gluten 

 meal causes softer butter than corn meal, the fats and 

 other compounds in the two feeds being similar in 

 kind, is wholly irrational unless we conclude that the 

 larger quantit}^ of fat fed in the former is the cause 

 of its specific influence. In a few cases where various 

 oils were fed in liberal quantity the butter is re- 



