1893 
THE RURAL NEW-YORKER. 
593 
* 
f 
SOME “ PLAIN ENGLISH ” ABOUT FEEDING 
VALUES. 
Inclosed is a tag containing analysis of “cream 
gluten meal.” In “plain English,” what is its actual 
feeding value at present prices, assuming that the 
analysis is correct. 
CREAM GLUTEN MEAL • 
ANALYSIS. MADE BY 
The Agricultural Experiment Station of New Hampshire. 
Water. 6.52 
Crude fat. 18.11 
Crude Mber. 1.20 
Crude protein. 39.13 
Nitrogen-free extract.31.38 
Ash.76 
Total per cent.100.00 
DIGESTIBLE NUTKIMENT. 
Albuminoids.33.26 
Non-albumlnolds. 67.11 
Nutritive ratio. 1 : 2 
East Union, N. Y. inquirer. 
“Plain” English seems to be about the hardest 
English to write; much of it seems to be explain— 
that is, it probably was plain once, but is now a little 
mixed with science so that it needs explaining. 
This tag shows that the New Hampshire Experiment 
Station analyzed a sample of the cream gluten meal, 
and found the contents as shown. The contents of 
each bag have not been analyzed, but that statement 
is a very fair one for an average sample of the feed. 
X X X 
There are three chief compounds in food that go to 
sustain life. The “ crude fat” is pure fat like butter 
or oil. “ Crude fiber ” is the po.tion of the food found 
in the form of woody fiber—hard and indigestible. 
“ Crude protein” is the portion of the food that goes 
to make muscle in the body. “ Nitrogen-free ex¬ 
tract, frequently called “carbohydrates,” is composed 
of starch, sugar, etc—bodies that may, by digestion 
and assimilation, be used to make fat in the body. 
“ Ash ” is what is left after the whole food is thor¬ 
oughly burned. The fats, of course, are more valu¬ 
able than the “ carbohydrates,” just as butter is more 
digestible than crackers. Both are valued for making 
fat. The “protein” is the muscle-forming food, and 
must be present in any ration. In one sense these 
terms are almost analogous to “ nitrogen,” “ potash” 
and “phosphoric acid” in fertilizers. Each has a 
special place or duty, and all must be present in a fer¬ 
tilizer to grow a crop. “ Digestible nutriments ” 
means the parts of these foods that may be digested 
by the animal on the same principle that fertilizer 
dealers claim that so much of their phosphoric acid 
is soluble in water. 
X t X 
In the above tag the manufacturers confuse many 
buyers by changing the names. “ Protein ” is a word 
used to describe a number of different substances 
called “albuminoids,” because they all contain more 
or less albumen, a substance like the white of an egg. 
“Non-albuminoids” are the parts of the food that 
are digestible, yet do not contain any albumen, or 
muscle-making food. This will include the fats and 
carbohydrates as distinguished from the protein. 
The statement in the tag means that 33.26 pounds of 
the albuminoids in every 100 are digestible, while 5 87 
pounds cannot be digested. The fats are worth more 
than the carbohydrates for feeding. How much more? 
Careful experiment puts the ratio at 2 2-5—that is, a 
pound of fat is worth as much as 2 2-5 pounds of car¬ 
bohydrates. To make the table on the tag the pounds 
of digestible fat were multiplied by 2 2 5, and added 
to the pounds of digestible carbohydrates. This gives 
67.11, and, as expressed above, is apt to confuse many 
farmers. “Nutritive ratio” means the ratio of the 
muscle-making food to that which makes fat. As in 
this case, there is twice as much of the latter, this 
ratio is called 1 to 2. To make a good ration for a 
milch cow there ought to be about one part muscle¬ 
making to five of the other ; so you can see why hay, 
stalks or some less concentrated food must be added 
to the meal. XXX 
Those who use fertilizers understand that nitrogen, 
potash and phosphoric acid are valued at certain prices 
per pound. These prices are determined by the trade 
values of different substances on the market. There 
is a movement on foot to adopt the same basis for 
valuing foods. At the New Jersey Experiment Sta- 
tio i a mixture was made of equal parts of all feeds in 
general use. The exact value of a pound of this mix¬ 
ture was found by figuring out the average prices of 
each separate food. Then it was analyzed and a fair 
basis made for the price of fat, protein and carbo¬ 
hydrates. This figuring gave the following result— 
showing the average cost per pound : 
Crude lat. 5.91 cents 
Crude protein. 0.91 
Caroohydrates, Including liber. 1.12 
These prices are nearly as accurate as the prices 
given for estimating chemical fertilizers. Applying 
them to the analysis given above would give a valua¬ 
tion of $36.40. Now this figure simply represents the 
comparative market value of this meal as compared 
with other grains. The feeding value must include 
other things—the iffect of the food on milk or butter, 
for example. Corn meal, for example, gives a hard, 
firm butter, while linseed gives a softer product. This 
effect is a part of the “ feeding value” in one sense, 
yet as regards the actual amount of nutriment in the 
grains this method of finding trade valuations is pretty 
reliable. + + + 
The following figures given by Prof. Yoorhees will 
give an idea of the way food prices and values vary in 
New Jersey : 
Cost per pound. Selling price. Valua- 
Carbo- tion. 
Protein. Fat. hydrates. per ton. per ton. 
Buckwheat bran... 0.47 3.05 0.58 $12.00 *23.60 
Wheat bran. 0.75 5.52 1.05 21.06 22.60 
Ground oats. 0.92 5.97 1.13 24.25 23.80 
Corn meal. 1.03 6.68 1.27 25.88 22.40 
Wheat middlings.. 1.08 6.68 1.27 25.5J 23.40 
Rye leed. 1.39 9.02 1.71 31.50 20.60 
These are but samples of well-knowD feeds. They 
simply show that any general attempt to sell grain, 
like fertilizers, by analysis, will result in an upsetting 
of prices—reduce the selling price of some feeds and 
increase that of others. It will also be easier for the 
farmer to estimate the value of what he is buying, 
and will lead to greater care and accuracy all around. 
There is surely a great difference between the price 
of protein in buckwheat bran and in rye feed. The 
table also illustrates why ground corn or oats com¬ 
mand a higher price than the actual chemical compo¬ 
sition would warrant. It is because of special values 
they possess, like that of giving “ spirit ” to horses or 
making a firm, hard butter. The whole thing is an 
interesting subject, and should be developed by our 
stations. As to cream gluten meal, it is a strong and 
reasonably cheap feed—better for milk than for 
butter. 
THE PROSPECT. 
Announcements from most sections of the country 
indicate the probability that there will be no small 
difficulty in moving the crops owing to the continued 
financial difficulty. While local bankers in New Or¬ 
leans and Mobile declare that ample means will be 
provided for securing shipments of cotton to those 
points, news from other points in the South are less 
confident, and the most trustworthy information inti¬ 
mates that, at best, there will be a good deal of delay, 
and that a large proportion of the needed money must 
be obtained from Europe, especially England, and it 
is believed that English buyers of cotton will thus se¬ 
cure a decided advantage in regulating prices. To 
move the wheat and other crops of the Northwest, 
various schemes have been suggested to extend credit, 
the last of which appears at present to meet with most 
favor. It proposes that the banks of St. Paul and Min¬ 
neapolis perfect an organization on the lines of the 
New York Clearing House, and then issue Clearing 
House certificates in denominations of $5, $10, $20 and 
$50, to be loaned to the grain buyers, wno would pay 
them out for wheat and freight. 
X X t 
It is said that if the jobbers will agree to accept 
these from country merchants, the latter will accept 
them from farmers, and then the farmers will take 
them from grain buyers. Of course, the success of 
the plan also involves the consent of the railroad com¬ 
panies to accept them for freight. It is asserted that 
this or some piac like it will have to be put in prac¬ 
tice, and time is pressing for a decision. Somewhat 
similar schemes are being anxiously discussed in other 
parts of the country, but, though the need of urgency 
is acknowledged everywhere, nothing definite has yet 
been done anywhere. The crops are already coming 
forward and must be marketed in some way. The 
farmers cannot afford to sell their crops on credit, as 
they have bills to pay. The railroads cannot afford 
to haul them on credit, as they have their men to pay 
and other obligations to meet. How the farmer is to 
be paid for his grain and the railroad for hauling it 
to market before the consumer has received and paid 
for it is the problem awaiting solution in the face of 
an almost unprecedented financial stringency due in 
great part to widespread and persistent hoarding of 
money. X t t 
Judge Simonton, of the United States Circuit Court 
in session at Greenville, S. C., has just rendered an 
important decision in regard to the Dispensary juaw. 
A railroad agent was arrested and held, under the 
25th section of the law, for delivering to the consignee 
a keg of whisky shipped from outside the State. The 
section referred to forbids any common carrier to 
transport or any agent to deliver packages of liquors 
which do not bear the official certificate of the State 
Dispenser that they are for the use of the State Dis¬ 
pensary. The railroad company claimed that this 
section is contrary to the Inter-State Commerce Law 
and the Fourteenth Amendment to the United States 
Constitution. The State claimed that it was the ex¬ 
ercise of its legitimate police powers. Judge Simon- 
ton’s decision is based on the fact that while the law 
makes it a misdemeanor for a railroad employee to 
deliver intoxicating liquors from a train without 
requiring any knowledge on his part that the package 
contains such liquors or that it is intended for sale, 
in every other case, including private carriers, express 
companies, etc., knowledge that the intoxicating 
liquor is intended for sale is expressly required. This 
he declares a discrimination against one class of peo¬ 
ple—railroad employees—and in conflict with the con¬ 
stitution of the State as well as with the Inter-State 
Commerce Law and the Fourteenth Amendment. An 
appeal will probably be made to the United States 
Supreme Court, but meanwhile the railroad people 
claim that the decision virtually relieves them of all 
restrictions in bringing liquor into the State and de¬ 
livering it there. j , j. 
No other class in the community, beyond those di¬ 
rectly affected, is so deeply concerned as farmers in 
the multitude of persons lately thrown out of employ¬ 
ment, and whose power to purchase commodities has 
therefore been greatly restricted. Although no cen¬ 
sus of the unemployed has been made, an approxi¬ 
mate idea of those now compulsorily idle can be 
formed from various data. In the cotton and woolen, 
iron and steel and boot and shoe industries the num¬ 
ber of hands employed last year is estimated at 1,044,- 
000, the estimates being based on the census figures of 
1890. Judging from the decrease in the output of 
these four great industries within the last few weeks, 
it is believed that at least 339,000 hands have been 
forced into idleness. Out of the 400,000 people em¬ 
ployed in coal, iron and silver mines last year, not 
less than 100,000 are unemployed. About 3,300,000 
persons were employed last year in manufactories, 
and of these not far from 750,000 are looking for 
work. The wage-earners support our population in 
the ratio of 1 to 3, so that for every 1,000,000 unem¬ 
ployed 3,000,000 persons are deprived of their usual 
means of support. Moreover, there has been a great 
decrease among the employees in the building trades, 
the railroad service and the lake and river fleets, and 
even in the great army of domestic servants. Then 
again, there are always a great many workmen and 
clerks unemployed, so that it is probable that there are 
at present about 1,750,000 persons idle in the country 
through lack of employment. Again, wages have 
been everywhere cut down, and people buy less be¬ 
cause they are earning less, or because they are econo¬ 
mizing for fear their incomes may soon be decreased. 
Though large in itself, the number of unemployed is, 
however, hardly over five per cent of the whole 
wage-earniDg population. 
X X J 
The dependence of other industries on agriculture 
is forcibly shown by the unprecedented depression in 
freights on the great lakes. The wheat movement, 
which was expected to cause an improvement in rates, 
has been checked by the financial situation, and the 
shipments of coal and iron have also been curtailed 
for the same reason. It is doubtful whether so many 
boats have ever been tied up at the docks in the his¬ 
tory of lake traffic. A moderate estimate puts the 
number at 125 to 140, with a capacity of 10,000 car¬ 
loads. Owing to the stagnation of trade, a vast num¬ 
ber of men, who made a livelihood out of the lake 
traffic, are compulsorily idle, and the owners of most 
of the boats running declare they are losing money. 
The freight on wheat between Buffalo and Chicago— 
800 miles—is only 1% cent a bushel, and the rate is 
the same between Buffalo and Duluth—1,200 miles, 
and still even at these low figures, little is being done 
owing to the high rate of exchange on New York and 
the scarcity of money to move the crops. Still reports 
from nearly all parts of the country indicate that, 
however widespread and severe the financial strin¬ 
gency, farmers are in a better position to meet it than 
the working and mercantile classes. 
BUSINESS BITS. 
If you are building fences of any kind, the DeKalb Fence Co., 17 
High Street, DeKalb, Ill., has matter that will Interest you. Better 
send and get It. 
Don’t lose quick sale and good prices for line fruit by shipping an 
Inferior quality. Send only prime assorted fruit to market and evapo¬ 
rate the poorer grades. Any one can run an evaporator. Win. Stahl, 
Quincy, Ill., will send a description of a good one for this purpose. 
‘‘The Hay Crop In New England” Is the title of a little circular 
Issued by the Bradley Fertilizer Co., of Boston, calling the attention 
of farmers to the wisdom of Increasing their hay crops, and how this 
can best be done. Commercial fertilizers have for some time played 
an Important part In hay raising, especially In Maine, where the ad¬ 
vantages of their use, as set forth In ‘‘The Hay Crop In New England,” 
have been amply proved. 
We have used tne Koss cutter and carrier on the home farm for 
several years now, cutting the corn for the silo atfd filling the same 
without handling after it leaves the cutter. Both cutter and carrier 
do the work admirably, and we have not had a break or a dollar’s 
worth of repair on either as yet. It Isn’t a matter with us how much 
we can cut, but how much we can get from the held to the cutter. The 
machine Is manufactured by The E. W. Koss Co., Springfield, O. 
