298 Annual Report for 1908 of the Consulting Chemist. 
manufacture on a commercial scale seem, however, to have 
been in measure overcome, and they are now being put 
on the market. There is still uncertainty as to their cost of 
production, and on this, as on their agricultural utility as 
compared with nitrate of soda or sulphate of ammonia, must 
their practical success turn. Even now it would seem that 
their price will be largely regulated by the corresponding 
price of the unit of nitrogen in nitrate of soda, &c. It 
behoves the scientist, however, to experiment with the new 
materials and to ascertain how they compare with the 
present supplies of nitrogen. Experiments to this end are 
now in progress at the Woburn Experimental Farm. If the 
farmer finds that he can get his nitrogen in the new form as 
cheap as, or cheaper than, he can in nitrate of soda or sulphate 
of ammonia, and if it proves equally effective in the field, he 
will not be slow to avail himself of the presence of these new 
materials on the market. But the whole question of their 
utility resolves itself into one of their initial cost. 
The different reports which I have submitted to the Chemical 
Committee from time to time show the prevalence still of a 
certain amount of adulteration against which it is necessary to 
be on one’s guard, and the Council have, I am glad to say, 
decided to revert to their former practice of publishing with 
such cases the names of the offending parties. 
A matter which has engaged considerable attention is the 
adulteration of offals, experience having shown that these are 
frequently otherwise than they should be. In this connection 
reference is made to the use of the material called “ shudes,” 
already mentioned. 
Another point of interest is the occurrence occasionally in 
linseed of a body which would appear to impart objectionable, 
if not even harmful, properties to the cake manufactured 
from it. 
Yet another subject demanding attention at the present 
time is the occurrence of castor bean in feeding materials, and 
this more especially in view of statements which have been 
lately put forward throwing doubt on the general belief in the 
poisonous properties of the same when occurring in feeding 
materials. 
The following matters, arranged under their different 
heads, may now be set out in fuller detail : — 
A. Feeding Stuffs. 
1. Linseed Cake. 
Instances still occur in which linseed cake is sold under a 
guarantee of being “ 95 per cent.,” “ 97 per cent.,” &c., pure. 
It should be pointed out that such a form of guarantee is not 
