INSPECTIONS FOR 1897. 57 



a brand which, to outward appearance, was apparently equal 

 to the first. Yet chemical analysis showed that the first con- 

 tained 52.2 per cent protein and the latter only 31.9 per cent. 

 In other words, one, which was an unusually good article, con- 

 tained over 60 per cent more protein than the other, which 

 proved much below the average. As regards the value, the 

 actual difference was probably much greater, since the amount 

 of ash found in the lower grade indicated that the adulterant 

 used was of inferior quality, and the digestibility of the protein 

 present must have been affected thereby. 



In the improvement in the manufacture of gluten meals and 

 feeds, and the increased demand for corn oil, the percentages of 

 fat have been greatly diminished and in most glutens the per- 

 centages of protein have been correspondingly increased. The 

 general feeling of dissatisfaction with the existing state of things 

 came to the front at the State Dairy Meeting held in Skow- 

 hegan in December of last year, and again later at the meeting 

 of the State Grange. At the first of these meetings the State 

 Board of Agriculture appointed a committee to draft a law to 

 regulate the sale of feeding stuffs. The State Grange passed 

 resolutions urging the desirability of such legislation. At the 

 annual meeting of the Board of Agriculture the committee pre- 

 sented their report, recommending the enactment of a law in 

 all its essentials identical with the act which was finally passed 

 in March, 1897. 



Chief Provisions of the Law. 



The points of the law of most interest, both to the dealer and 

 consumer, are concisely stated below. 



Kinds of Feed coming within the Lazv. The law covers all 

 feeding stuffs except hays and straws; whole seeds and meals of 

 wheat, rye, barley, oats, Indian com, buckwheat and broom 

 corn; brans and middlings. The principal feeds coming under 

 the provisions of the law are linseed meals, cotton-seed meals, 

 pea meals, cocoanut meals, gluten meals, gluten feeds, maize 

 feeds, starch feeds, sugar feeds, dried brewer's grains, malt 

 sprouts, hominy feeds, cerealine feeds, rice meals, oat feeds, 

 corn and oat chops, ground beef or fish scraps, mixed feeds, 

 and all other materials of similar nature. 



