No. 4.] COXCEXTKATED FEED STUFFS. 323 



The preceding table shows that cotton, linseed and gluten 

 meals possess the highest fertilizing value, and that they 

 contain from 2 to 3.7 times as much value in fertility as do 

 the grains and allied products. Such feeds, therefore, when 

 fed to animals, produce a rich manure. 



The concentrated feeds, being easy to handle, can be 

 applied directly to the land, and as good results obtained as 

 from various forms of commercial fertilizing material of a 

 similar nature. When the concentrated feeds are first fed 

 to farm animals, from 80 to 90 per cent of the fertilizing 

 value of the feeds reappears in the manure, })roviding the 

 latter is carefully preserved. The same amount of plant 

 food as it exists in animal excrement is by no means as 

 valuable, from a commercial standpoint, as a like amount in 

 the form of concentrated feed, for the very reason that it 

 costs so much more to handle it. It is as a rule, neverthe- 

 less, considered better economy in a system of mixed farm- 

 ing, to first secure the feeding effects of the feeds, and then 

 their fertilizino- value in the manure. 



V. IS THERE NEED OF A LAW TO CONTROL THE 

 SALE OF CONCENTRATED FEED STUFFS ? 



I think this question can be answered very decidedly in 

 the affirmative, and I desire to state the reasons why. 



Every purchaser of concentrated stuffs realizes the great 

 variety of such substances that are ofiered for sale, and the 

 immense quantities that are being 3"early consumed by our 

 Massachusetts farmers. Those enumerated in the preceding- 

 pages are the most important ones now in our markets. 

 Scarcely a year passes but that several new articles, gener- 

 ally by-products from different industries, of uncertain 

 composition, find their way into the trade. Now while 

 these substances contain some of each of the several groups 

 of feed constituents — protein, fat and carbohydrates — 

 they are purchased chiefly for the protein they contain. 

 The fodder crops grown by the farmer are nearly all rich in 

 starchy materials, and he has recourse to these by-products 

 to supplement his home-grown starchy feeds, in order to 

 produce well-l)alanced fodder rations for his cattle. These 



