Annual Report of the Consulting Chemist for 1883. 365 
food requires to be ground into meal, and largely diluted with 
starchy or similar meals that are comparatively poor in nitro- 
genous compounds, in order to be wholesome and safe food for 
ruminants. 
It will likewise be seen that all the Texas cakes contained 
more indigestible woody fibre than the cakes the analyses of 
which are given on p. 364 under the columns Xo. 1 to No. 5. 
]Most of the Texas cakes were not only hard pressed, but they 
also contained much cotton-wool ; several were mouldy, and also 
in my judgment totally unfit for feeding purposes. 
Loher-Meal. — Under this name a sample of meal was sent 
for analysis, which gave the following results ; — - 
Moisture 13"o5 
Oil -90 
*Albnminous compounds 8 • 69 
Mucilage, sugar, digestible fibre, <i'c 69 '68 
Indigestible fibre (cellulose) 5 "17 
Mineral matter (ash) 2 "01 
100-00 
* Containing nitrogen 1-39 
This meal was sold at the rate of 20s. per cwt. On examina- 
tion I found that it consisted chiefly, if not entirely, of the 
ground hard seeds of locust-bean pods. I take it that the name 
" loker-meal " is a corruption for locust-meal. The price at 
which this meal was sold is about four times as high as 
corresponds to its real feeding value. 
Buying Manures on the strength of Guaranteed Analyses. — It 
cannot be too strongly impressed upon agriculturists how great 
a risk they run of being supplied with inferior manures at 
extravagant prices if they neglect to buy manures, such as 
dissolved bones, guano, turnip-manure, &c., without a definite 
analytical guarantee. The Quarterly Reports of the Chemical 
Committee prove this abundantly. Nevertheless, it is sur- 
prising still to find so many farmers disregard altogether the 
recommendations as regards analytical guarantees which the 
Chemical Committee issued some years ago. It is well for 
intending purchasers of artificial manures to bear in mind that 
in statements of analytical guarantees, the lower figures alone 
are binding. Thus, a manufacturer or dealer guaranteeing in a 
manure 5 to 7 per cent, of ammonia, and 10 to 15 per cent, of 
soluble phosphate, binds himself to supply not less than 5 per 
cent, of ammonia, and 10 per cent, of soluble phosphate. This 
being the case, analytical statements in which the difference 
of the value of the manure between the lower and higher figures 
