, 
SUGAR FACTORY FEEDS AND OIL MEALS 201 
of the North Carolina Station, has lately identified a toxic principle 
called gossypol in cotton-seed kernels and studied its physiological 
effects; he found that it may be changed to inert forms by oxida- 
tion and precipitation.** The latter method may be adopted by 
treatment with soluble iron salts. Recent investigations appear to 
show that the danger in feeding cotton-seed meal to pigs can be 
overcome by giving them in drinking water for every pound of 
cotton-seed meal eaten, for each 100-pound pig, one gallon of a solu- 
tion of iron sulfate (made by dissolving 1 pound in 50 gallons of 
drinking water).1* If further work shows that cottonseed meal, can 
be safely fed to pigs by this method, it will prove of great importance 
to American agriculture, as it will tend to do away with enormous 
losses of pigs that occur each year through the feeding of cotton- 
seed meal either to pigs direct or to steers followed by pigs. 
Cotton-seed hulls are also fed to cattle in the South, being 
used as a roughage and a cheap substitute for hay. They are dry, 
hard and usually covered with a fuzzy lint. The average composi- 
tion of cotton-seed hulls is as follows: 
Moisture ............. 11.3 per cent 
AGN soe cey yy uate et eae 2.7 per cent 
Protein ne. hte a as 4.2 per cent 
Biber” schwstcatokspyaccats 45.3 per cent 
Nitrogen-free extract ... 34.1 per cent 
Bat. ieaeicindaeene eae 2.2 per cent 
100.0 
Ten per cent of the protein has been found digestible; 38 per 
cent of the fiber, 40 per cent of the nitrogen-free extract, and 77 
per cent of ‘the fat, making the amounts of digestible feed con- 
stituents found therein: 
Protec. wdals eden 0.42 per cent 
Carbohydrates and fat 34.77 per cent 
The hulls are used as a fuel at the oil mills and, as stated, for 
stock feeding, either clear or mixed with concentrates, like cotton- 
seed meal, wheat bran, cracked corn, etc. In the South cotton-seed 
meal and cotton-seed hulls are often fed as the entire ration for 
fattening steers, milch cows, and other stock.* The hulls are con- 
sidered of a similar feeding value as a good quality of straw or 
low-grade hay. In feeding experiments with steers conducted at 
the Texas station they were found of nearly similar value as an 
equal weight of sorghum hay. 
13 Journal of Agr. Research, v,p. 261. For literature on experiments with 
cotton-seed meal, composition, ete, see Ga. Bul. 119. 
* North Carolina Circular 5; Jr. Biol. Chem. 15, 161. 
* Farmers’ Bulletin 36, pp. 14-15: “ Directions for Feeding Cotton- 
seed Meal and Hulls to Farm Animals ;” Texas Bulletin 159. 
