REQUESTS BY INDIVIDUALS FOR THE ANALYSIS 



OF FEEDINGSTUFFS 



Under the feedingstufiPs 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 giyen promptly. The most conclusive method of deter- 

 mining 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 sam- 

 ple 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 shortage. 

 The Station can assume no responsibility for the drawing of an unofficial 

 sample but can attest only the accuracy of the analysis of the sample as 

 submitted. It is practically impossible to secure a representative sample of 

 a feedingstuiT composed of several ingredients varying widely in composi- 

 tion 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 glu- 

 ten meal averaging 40 per cent protein, and as another ingredient 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 re- 

 quires ten. Since a representative sample is as essential as an accurate an- 

 alysis in judging the value of a shipment of feed, it is evident that a sat- 

 isfactory adjustment can seldom be effected on the basis of an unofficial 

 sample. 



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