94 THE CREAMERY PATRON'S HANDBOOK. 



about the same, gluten feed from 23 per cent, upwards, malt sprouts and 

 brewers' grains about 25 per cent., wheat bran and wheat middlings over 

 15 per cent., pure mixed corn and oats over 10 per cent., and so on. Unless 

 the protein is kept to approximately these figures, the material is not pure. 

 Hulls cannot be introduced into cottonseed meal without lowering the per- 

 centage of protein, and the same thing is true of the admixture of ground 

 corncobs with wheat bran or any other material. Oat hull mixtures, 

 especially those where their components are corn meal or hominy feed and 

 oat hulls, necessarily carry less than 10 per cent, of protein. When there- 

 fore the guarantee of a proprietary feed, whatever may be its name, ranges 

 from 6 to 8 per cent, of protein, the purchaser may be pretty sure that he 

 has under observation an oat hull mixture, and the purchaser should always 

 remember that an oat hull mixture is only worth what it contains outside 

 of the oat hulls. The oat hulls are not worth purchasing. 



It is probable, too, that the penal force of a feeding stuff counts for 

 something. Some men are honest because they like to be, some men are 

 honest because they are afraid to be otherwise, and some have courage 

 enough to be dishonest until they are caught. With the second class and 

 perhaps the third, such a law has some influence. 



It must be remembered that after all no law can take the place of intelli- 

 gence on the part of those whom it is supposed to protect. If the farmers 

 of this country would inform themselves thoroughly in regard to various 

 commercial feeding stuffs on the market, and learn to distinguish the various 

 kinds by mere physical inspection, there would be much less need for legis- 

 lation than is at present the case. The buyer who is awake to the situation 

 will not purchase oat hull mixtures with the understanding that he is getting 

 pure corn and oats, neither will he long be deceived by bran and corncobs. 



One fact which promotes the sale of inferior feeding stuffs is the foolish 

 desire of so many to purchase something cheap. If one dealer has a mixture 

 which he is offering at a dollar per ton less than some other dealer, the former 

 gets the trade of a certain class of people, who consider only price, and have 

 no intelligent understanding of quality. It should be understood that even 

 when a feeding stuff inspection law exists it will be largely inoperative 

 unless it has the co-operation of the constituency which it is supposed to 

 benefit. No farmer should allow himself to purchase a feeding stuff which 

 is not sold under the proper guarantee and marks. He should refuse to 

 listen to the smooth statements of some dealer or 'agent who fails to com- 

 ply with the requirements of the law, and who assures him that he has 

 some remarkably valuable mixture to offer him. The days of magic are 

 past. There are no nutrients of greater value than those which are found 

 in the grains which are raised upon your farms, and when any manufacturer 

 claims to have discovered some remarkable material or process, by means 

 of which he can furnish you a cattle food of previously unheard of merit, 

 you should turn a deaf ear. 



