BULLETIN OF THE BUSSEY INSTITUTION. 89 
of this ash is phosphoric acid, calculated as if it were free and uncom- 
bined), and that every ton of shorts or middlings contains from thirty 
to fifty pounds of ash. All the varieties of bran are consequently 
well fitted to supply the phosphates needed by milch-cows and by ' 
- growing animals; and the manure from animals fed with bran will, 
of course, be specially rich in phosphates. Where bran is used. judi- 
ciously it can hardly happen that there should be need of feeding out 
bone-meal to cattle, as is so often done in New England. 
I do not wish to be understood as recommending the use of bran in 
any wholesale or indiscriminate way. Every farmer knows that in 
beginning to feed an animal with either of the refuse wheat-products 
the quantity given must be small at first, and must not be increased 
too rapidly. Perhaps in no event can any very large amount of it be 
added with advantage to the daily ration. It will always be true of 
this kind of fodder, that care, attention, and good judgment are 
necessary in order to its profitable use. There are doubtless many 
farmers in Massachusetts whose methods of using the material leave 
nothing to be desired. Their practices should be discovered and held 
up for imitation. There can be small room for doubting that the use 
of this kind of fodder in New England ought to be largely increased. 
The price per ton of bran-feed, no matter whether it be shorts, fine- 
feed, or middlings, is lower in Boston this winter (1872—73) than that 
of the ton of hay. It is plain, therefore, that bran is held in com- 
paratively low esteem in this region. No doubt the very fact of its 
comparatively low price tends to deter some persons from using bran- 
feed. They would naturally enough argue that, if this material were 
really valuable, the fact would have been recognized long ago by prac- 
tical men, and the price forced up by an extended consumption. I am 
inclined, however, to believe that the low price of bran is in some 
sense a matter of tradition, and that it is really based upon the old 
necessity of the miller’s having to rid himself of a bulky waste ma- 
terial immediately, constantly, and at any sacrifice. 
Iam glad to bear witness in this connection to the skill and assi- 
duity which my assistants, Mr. F. P. Pearson and Mr. M. Hutchinson, 
have exhibited in this investigation and in the ordinary work of the 
laboratory. ° 
