132 SECOND THOUSAND QUESTIONS IN AGRICULTURE 



What Is Tankage? 



We have read in your paper about people feeding tankage and would 

 like to know the meaning of the word. 



Tankage is a by-product of large meat-packing establishments 

 and is made of scraps and trimmings from meat and fat, hair and 

 other residue from the plant. After cooking or steaming for several 

 hours in pressure tanks, all existing disease germs are destroyed, the 

 grease being drawn off and the greater part of the moisture either 

 pressed out or evaporated. After processing it resembles dark wheat 

 shorts and is usually sold in 100-pound sacks. Packers maintain that 

 it will keep indefinitely under fairly good storage conditions. It is 

 used chiefly as a substitute for skim milk, it being especially recom- 

 mended for young pigs. It is generally about fifty per cent protein, 

 and contains about twice the food value of oil meal if not fed as 

 more than ten per cent of the ration. Such concentrated feed must 

 not be given in too large quantities. 



Storing Rolled Barley. 



How long can rolled barley be safely stored and what is the t 

 best way to store it? 



Rolled barley is usually stored in sacks ready for shipment, while 

 whole barley is often stored in bins in bulk. Rolled barley absorbs 

 moisture much more easily than whole barley, and so must be stored 

 to prevent collection of moisture and development of mold and heat. 

 When rolled barley leaves the mill, it is hot and must be cooled off 

 before storing closely. The best way is to stand the sacks on end 

 with space for circulation of air until thoroughly cool. Then if 

 stored in a dry place where moisture cannot come up from underneath, 

 it may be safely piled four or five sacks high, standing the sacks on 

 end in winter time, leaving space between the stacks for circulation. 

 In summer, if dry and cool before storing, it can be piled higher and 

 closer together. Too much weight on the lower sacks if they are 

 damp would pack them and have greater tendency to make them spoil. 



Meal Mite in Crushed Barley. 



/ am sending a package of "lice" and barley, taken out of our 

 barley granary. This barley was bought in San Francisco and supposed to 

 be clean and steam rolled. Two of the other granaries had not as yet 

 become "alive." Please tell me what these are and what is the remedy. 



The crushed barley is infested with the meal mite or acarus. The 

 stuff would not be dangerous for feeding hogs or fowls and probably 

 would not injure other animals. Any crushed grain would be likely 

 to be infested by this minute insect if stored after crushing. Thorough 

 cleaning of the granaries and whitewashing, with a good spray which 

 would shoot the cracks full, ought to reduce it to a minimum, but it 

 is always dangerous to store crushed grain for long. 



