THE TECHNOLOGIST.' [Mat 1, 18C5. 



470 COMPOSITION AND NUTRITIVE VALUE OF 



The analysis furnished the following results : — 



Moisture . . . . . , . 7*49 



Fatty matters 26-57 



* Albuminous compounds (flesh-forming matters) 15*75 



Starch, mucilage, sugar, and digestible fibre . 37 - 89 



Woody fibre (cellulose) 8-40 



Mineral matters (ash) 3 90 



100-00 

 * Containing nitrogen . . . 2"52 



It appears from these results, — 



1 . That this meal is very rich in ready-made fat. In the best lin- 

 seed-cake the percentage of oil rarely amounts to 12 per cent., and 10 

 per cent, may be taken as a fair average. The palm-kernel meal analysed 

 by me thus contained more than twice as much fatty matter, and theoreti- 

 cally is much superior to oil-cakes, as a direct supplier of fat. 



2. The proportion of flesh-forming (nitrogenous) matters is fully as 

 large as in the best barley meal, but much less than in linseed, rape, or 

 cotton-cake ; nor is it equal to that found in peas, lentils, and other 

 leguminous seeds. 



3. The amount of indigestible woody fibre is but small. 



4. It contains about as much mineral matter as cereal grains, and 

 thus is not particularly noted for bone-producing qualities. 



From these remarks, it may be gathered that palm-nut kernel meal 

 is not so well adapted for the rearing of young stock as for fattening 

 animals, and that it surpasses almost all other articles of food in its 

 theoretical value as a fat producer. The proximate composition of 

 articles of food unquestionably affords useful indications of their pro- 

 perties, but such indications are insufficient to determine with certainty 

 tin- real nutritive value of food. Analysis may point out the existence 

 of a large amount of oil or fat in a substance, but it doesnotdecide whether 

 these matters, as in the castor-oil beans or croton seeds, possess medi- 

 cinal properties, or whether, like Linseed or rape oil, they are available 

 in the animal economy for the production of fat. On these and other 

 points that readily suggest themselves to feeders of stock desirotts of 

 using a hitherto untried food, practical experience has to be appealed to 

 for a final decision. Fully impressed with the propriety of submitting 

 palm-nut meal to a sufficient decisive experimental test before giving a 

 definite opinion of its economical value, I procured a supply from 

 Messrs. Smith, which I placed in the hands of Mr. Coleman, the late 

 manager of the farm attached to the Royal Agricultural College, Ciren- 

 cester. I expected in the course of three or four months to have reported 

 on the result ; however, more than a year elapsed before the feeding 

 experiments could be said to have been fairly concluded. 



"Well-fed animals, liberally supplied with succulent, sweet roots, good 



