BULLETIN No. 217. 



DEPARTMENT OF CHEMISTRY. 



THE VALUE OF BUTTERMILK AND LACTIC ACID 

 IN PIG FEEDING. 



BY J. B. LINDSEY AND C. L. BEALS. 



Condensed and Dried Buttermilk as a Food for Pigs. 



Buttermilk, as it comes from the creamery, has long been recognized as a valuable 

 food for growing pigs and poultry. Some thirty-five years ago, the late Professor 

 Goessmann of this Station showed that on the basis of total solid ingredients (dry 

 matter), buttermilk and skim milk when fed to growing pigs possessed substantially 

 equal values. 



At the present time neither by-product is obtainable in regular supply in most 

 sections of Massachusetts at prices which warrant its use, especially for pigs. In 

 recent years buttermilk, from which a portion of the water has been removed by 

 the use of a partial vacuum and which is of a pasty consistency, has been placed 

 upon the market under the trade name of semi-solid buttermilk, ^ and offered at 

 from five and one-half to six cents per pound in barrel lots. It is also put up in 

 fifty-pound wooden pails, intended particularly for poultry. A completely dried 

 buttermilk, of a creamy color and of a powdered or flaky appearance, is also to be 

 had, costing from ten to twelve cents a pound. 



Inasmuch as the condensed or "semi-sohd" material is freely advertised and its 

 use recommended and urged, it seemed worth while to test its economy by feeding 

 it in limited amounts to two groups of pigs. The dried buttermilk was also similarly 

 tried.'- 



Chemical Composition. 



' The Universal Products Sales Co., 165 Liberty St., New York, are wholesale distributors. 



- Sample secured from the Merrell-Soule Co., Syracuse, N. Y. The Collis Products Co., of Clinton, Iowa, 

 claim to be large manufacturers of dried buttermilk and offer it in paper-lined sax at $9.50 a cwt. delivered, 

 or $10 a cwt. in barrels. The price, naturally, is subject to change. 



3 Including lactic acid. 



* Centrifugal process of separation. 



