262 THE FEEDING OF ANIMALS 



The relative values of the old and new process meals 

 are much discussed. Many' farmers are prejudiced in 

 favor of the former, possibly because anything which has 

 been treated chemically is regarded with suspicion when 

 considered as a food. No good evidence exists, however, 

 that new process meal is less palatable or less healthful 

 than the old process product, nor has practice demon- 

 strated that m a general way it is less- nutritious. 



A very useful inquiry by Woll into the characteristics 

 of the two kinds of meal showed certain differences which 

 are interesting in this connection. Two points were 

 studied: the digestibility and the property of swelling to 

 a mucilaginous condition when stirred up with water. 

 Experiments with animals both in Germany and in this 

 country have shown a quite uniformly lower coefficient 

 of digestibility for the protein of the new process than 

 for the old process, meal. Woll tested this matter by 

 artificial digestion with a solution of pepsin, and his 

 results verified those secured with animals, the protein 

 of the old process sample proving to be 10 per cent the 

 more soluble. This difference is believed to be caused by 

 the additional cooking with steam which attends the 

 driving out of the naphtha from the new process meal, for 

 it seems to be well proven that the digestibility of vege- 

 table protein is diminished by cooking. American experi- 

 ments do not indicate a lower digestibility of total dry 

 matter for the new process meal, which is contrary to 

 the verdict of German digestion trials. 



The property of swelling to a mucilaginous condi- 

 tion is one well known to pertain to flaxseed. This is due 

 to mucilage cells found in the seed coat. When this 

 mucilaginous matter has once been swollen, it will not 

 repeat the process after drying. Woll's tests showed 



