88 THE CREAMERY PATRON*S HANDBOOK. 



manufacturers, sometimes of doubtful accuracy, or the safeguards pro- 

 vided by law. 



Important differences are also found in the digestibility of these ma- 

 terials, and this is a matter of great moment, because the oily portion of a 

 feeding stuff which is useful -to the animal is that which is dissolved by the 

 digestive juices and absorbed by the blood. 



Feeding stuff adulteration is widely practiced at the present time. By 

 adulteration I mean the introduction into a material of a certain grade of 

 something inferior either in nutritive value or in cost. There are those who 

 deplore any reference to dishonest practices in trade, such as adulteration, 

 because they say it will hurt business. I would very much regret injuring 

 the business of any honest manufacturer by anything I might say here. 

 I wish to bear testimony to the uprightness and straightforward busi- 

 ness methods of a large proportion of the " feeding stuff manufacturers 

 and dealers with whom I come in contact, either directly or by correspond- 

 ence. Many of them, yes, the most of them, have as great a desire to main- 

 tain their goods up to the standard which, they set for them as any class of 

 business men have to deal fairly. If adulterations are practiced, it is neces- 

 sary to make plain what they are , and if trade is thereby injured, the responsi- 

 bility does not lie with the men who search out such dishonest methods, 

 or with the consuming public that is made the victim of dishonesty, but it 

 lies with the disreputable manufacturers themselves. I, for one, shall not 

 hesitate to speak plainly concerning those devices of commercial greed by 

 means of which one man defrauds another. The ethics of trade in this 

 country need reforming in certain quarters. There is altogether too lenient 

 a spirit toward the man who declares that he must practice this or that de- 

 ception in order to maintain himself against the competition of the market, 

 or who excuses his unwholesome methods by declaring that others do the 

 same. We should not cry peace when there is no peace. To-day, there- 

 fore, I shall first describe briefly the principal feeding stuffs which are now 

 found in our markets, indicate the standards by which we should measure 

 these materials, point out some of the ways in which they are adulterated, 

 and refer to certain precautions and preventions which must be utilized 

 by the farmer in order to protect himself in so complex a trade. 

 CLASSES OF FEEDING STUFFS. 



1. NATURAL GRAINS. When the cereal grains and other seeds are 

 sold in their unground natural condition, they are easily recognized by all 

 who have any familiarity whatever with agricultural matters, and the y need 

 no comment or description from me. When sold in the ground condition, 

 they are at present adulterated to some extent, a matter to which I shall 

 refer later. 



2. OIL MEALS. Several seeds, such as cottonseed, flaxseed, rapeseed, 

 etc., contain very large percentages of oil, which, either by pressure or by the 

 use of a solvent, it is possible to remove. These oils have their important uses 

 in the arts. It is the residues from their extraction in which we are interested 



