738 



The Soy Bean. 



[dec, 



were receiving the soy bean cake than they did on the decor- 

 ticated cotton cake. 



An experiment on similar lines was conducted at the Royal 

 Agricultural College, Cirencester.* Six cows were selected 

 from the College herd, and divided into two lots of three each, 

 care being taken that the age, period of lactation, and quan- 

 tities of milk per day were as nearly equal as possible. The 

 cows were turned out to grass on April 5th, and the experi- 

 ment lasted from April 12th to May 9th. The daily rations 

 were 35 lb. pulped mangolds, 6 — 8 lb. chaff, 2 lb. ground oats, 

 1 lb. bran, and a small allowance of hay. Lot I. received, in 

 addition, 4 lb. soy bean cake, and Lot II. 4 lb. decorticated 

 cotton cake; the bean cake contained 6 per cent, of oil and 

 40 per cent, of albuminoids and cost £6 10s. per ton, while 

 the cotton cake contained 8 per cent, of oil and 34 per cent, 

 of albuminoids, and cost £j 10s. per ton. 



The yield of milk appeared to be little affected by the kind 

 of cake used. The percentage of butter-fat in the case of the 

 bean cake remained almost constant, a slight increase, if any- 

 thing, being noticed ; with the decorticated cotton cake the 

 percentage of butter-fat had a tendency to fall. 



The butter produced by the bean cake was of a soft, oily 

 nature and quickly churned, but it yielded well. It was, 

 however, of a decidedly paler colour and somewhat inferior 

 flavour as compared with that from cotton cake. The butter 

 produced by the decorticated cotton cake was hard, and 

 took a longer time to churn. The yield, however, was not so 

 good as from the bean cake. No difference in laxative effect 

 or otherwise was observed in the two cakes. 



Another experiment on a small scale was carried out at the 

 Harper Adams Agricultural College, with two rather delicate 

 heifers, to test the question of the possibility of this cake 

 having any detrimental effect on animals. Increasing quan- 

 tities up to 7 lb. a day were given to one animal without any 

 ill effects and the cake was eaten with relish. The other heifer 

 was fed on a patent cake, and then a sudden change made to 

 soy bean cake, and in this case also no difference was 

 observed. 



* Feeding Soya bean cake to Milk Cows, Roy. Agric. Coll., Cirence-ter, 1909. 



