REQUESTS BY INDIVIDUALS FOR THE ANALYSIS 

 OF FEEDINGSTUFFS 



Under the feedingstiiffs law the Agricultural Experiment Station is 

 charged only with the analysis of samples of feedingstuffs collected by the 

 State Inspector under the direction of the Commissioner of Agriculture. 

 It does, each year, however, analyze a considerable number of samples 

 drawn by individuals representing stock purchased by them for their own 

 use. Frequently the reason for sending the sample is that the feed is sus- 

 pected of causing sickness or death of livestock or poultry. While in very 

 rare instances the feed may have caused the trouble, disease is usually 

 found to be the cause. Many times feeders, suspecting the feed, lose val- 

 uable time in the treatment of the disease by sending a sample of the feed 

 for analysis and waiting for the report. Losses could have been reduced 

 had a veterinarian or poultry specialist been consulted immediately and 

 the proper treatment given promptly. The most conclusive method of de- 

 termining whether or not the feed is the cause of the trouble is a biological 

 test. Such a test can be conducted on the premises of the feeder. If chicks 

 have died and the feed is suspected, confine in sanitary pens two lots of 

 healthy chicks. Give to one lot the suspected feed and to the other lot a 

 feed known to be good. Should the chicks receiving the suspected feed 

 die and the others remain healthy, there is evidence the feed is the cause. 

 Under such circumstances notify the Commissioner of Agriculture and an 

 official sample will be drawn. The official sample will be analyzed to de- 

 termine if the manufacturer is responsible. 



The most common reason the purchaser has for asking to have the 

 sample analyzed is to satisfy himself whether the feed meets its guarantee 

 and if it does not, to obtain evidence upon which to base a claim for short- 

 age. The Station can assume no responsibility for the drawing of an un- 

 official sample but can attest only the accuracy of the analysis of the sam- 

 ple as submitted. It is practically impossible to secure a representative 

 sample of a feedingstuif composed of several ingredients varying widely 

 in composition without the aid of a sampling tube for drawing the sample 

 and proper equipment for mixing it. A feed may contain as one of its 

 ingredients gluten meal averaging 40 per cent protein, and as another in- 

 gredient oat mill feed averaging five per cent protein. These materials 

 are so different in physical condition that the shaking in transit tends to 

 separate them even though they may have been perfectly mixed by the 

 manufacturer before bagging. It is apparent that an accurate sample of 

 a ton of this feed can only be had by drawing a core from several bags. 

 The official method requires ten. Since a representative sample is as essen- 

 tial as an accurate analysis in judging the value of a shipment of feed, it 

 is evident that a satisfactory adjustment can seldom be effected on the 

 basis of an unofficial sample. 



Nothwithstanding the objections which may be raised to the analysis 

 of samples taken without proper sampling equipment, the Station is dis- 



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