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A law relating to Concentrated Commercial Feeding Stuffs was passed by the General Assembly, session of 1925, and is now in force. Rules and regulations for enforcement of the law will be issued, as provided in the act, but the essential provisions as they differ from the old law may be here noted. Copies of the law may be obtained from this Station upon request.

"Concentrated Commercial Feeding Stuffs" defined. Section 1 of the law defines the term "concentrated commercial feeding stuffs" in substantially the same way that it is defined in the old law; and with the same exemptions. Scratch grains are classed as concentrated feeds.

Labelling. Section 2 defines how concentrated commercial feeding stuffs shall be labelled. The label must declare (1) the number of net pounds of feed in the package; (2) the name, brand or trade mark under which the article is sold; (3) the name and address of the manufacturer or importer; (4) a statement of the minimum percentages of (a) crude protein, (b) crude fat, and (c) the maximum percentage of crude fiber; and (5) in case of feeds composed of two or more ingredients, the name of each ingredient contained therein.

Registration and registration fee. Section 3 requires the annual registration of concentrated commercial feeding stuffs and a registration fee of fifteen dollars ($15.00) for each brand. Registration is to be made with the Connecticut Agricultural Experiment Station on or before September 1, 1925, and annually thereafter.

Duties of Manufacturers. Manufacturers, jobbers or individuals shipping feeds into Connecticut will be expected to register their brands and pay the necessary fees thereon. Connecticut dealers should assure themselves that the brands they handle are properly registered. In case the manufacturer or jobber outside the State neglects or refuses to register, the dealer who handles such feeds will be held responsible for such registration and registration fee.

Dealers within the State who mix their own brands are responsible for the registration and proper labelling thereof.

Cottonseed Meal. Cottonseed meal registered as required by the fertilizer law is not exempt from registration also under the feed law if sold for feeding purposes.

Meaning of "Brand". It is held that a distinct brand name or a distinct guaranty constitutes a distinct brand.

Affixing Tags. The use of wire or any metal in affixing tags is prohibited by law.

E. M. BAILEY.*

ROLE OF THE NUTRIENTS.

Water. Air dry feeding stuffs, whether concentrates or roughage, still contain some moisture which cannot be seen or felt. The amount of such moisture averages not far from ten per cent. While not a nutrient in the ordinary sense, water is essential to the animal; but since it is obtained in abundance from sources other than the feed, its presence therein is not of importance. Excessive amounts, however, jeopardize the keeping qualities of a feed and automatically reduce the percentage of the more desirable ingredients.

Ash. The importance of mineral constituents in feeds is emphasized by the fact that animals fed upon rations deprived largely or entirely of ash constituents generally die sooner than animals which have been given no food at all. Given stock mineral matter in addition to that obtained in the daily ration is an old and familiar practice among experienced stockmen who have long "salted their cattle" with common salt (sodium chloride), the commercial grades of which contain small and varying amounts of other minerals, such as calcium, magnesium, iron and phosphorus and sulphur. Recent studies in nutrition have shown some of the specific needs which minerals satisfy in the vital processes. Thus big neck in calves, colts and lambs, and hairlessness in pigs are now attributed to iodine deficiency in the feed; and defective skeletal formation in growing animals is due either to a lack of calcium and phosphorous or to an absence of the necessary agency to make the proper utilization of these minerals possible, for it has been shown that without what has been called the fourth, or antirachitic, vitamine which is present in cod liver oil and in green plant tissues, calcium and phosphorus cannot be properly assimilated.

Protein. This nutrient group is estimated by determining the amount of nitrogen which a feed contains and multiplying that amount by the factor 6.25 on the assumption that proteins uniformly contain 16 per cent. of nitrogen. While this method of estimation is not strictly accurate it is as close an approximation as it is generally possible or practicable to get. From protein the body repairs waste, builds new tissue and, to a lesser extent, derives heat and energy. It was formerly thought that all proteins were adequate for all these processes, but it is a comparatively

*Analyses are chiefly by Messrs. Nolan and Mathis; inspection and sampling by Mr. Churchill; and compilation largely by Miss Bacon.

recent contribution to our knowledge that they are not. Protein is a complex substance made up of nineteen separate parts called amino acids. Proteins which contain some of all the various amino acids are called "complete" proteins; those in which one or more amino acids are lacking are called "incomplete". Undoubtedly all these separate parts play some rôle in vital processes; more particularly we know that tryptophane and lysine are essential to a normal rate of growth. The proteins of cereal grains are relatively low in the two amino acids just mentioned while proteins of animal origin, such as milk, meat, and eggs, are rich in these two substances; thus the logic of supplementing grain rations with skimmed milk or tankage is apparent. Grain mixtures alone may suffice if fed in sufficient quantity but it may happen that the energy requirements of the animal will become satisfied by non-protein constituents of the ration and its appetite fail before enough of the necessary amino acids has been acquired. Knowledge of digestible nutrients and nutritive rations are not the final criteria by which rations are to be adjusted. The right kind and quality of protein must be supplied.

Crude Fiber. By this term is meant the coarser and more woody tissue characteristic of all forms of roughage and present in the outer coats of cereal and other fodder grains. It belongs to the carbohydrate group and is, in part, digested by ruminant animals. Its chief value lies in its mechanical effect in the intestinal tract.

Nitrogen-free Extract. In this class are included the relatively more digestible carbohydrates of the starch and sugar types. Their principal rôle in nutrition is to supply heat and energy, but they have also the power of sparing protein, by which is meant that when fed together with protein they reduce the amount of the latter food required. An excess of this carbohydrate group over the immediate needs of the body can be transformed into fat and stored in the body tissue.

The term "carbohydrate" as applied to a feeding stuff properly means "crude fiber" and "nitrogen-free extract" combined. Nitrogen-free extract is obtained by deducting from 100 per cent. the sum of the percentages of moisture, ash, protein, fiber and fat (ether extract).

Fat (Ether Extract). Fats, like the carbohydrates, furnish energy to the body and like them also, but to a lesser extent, spare protein. As energy producers their value is 2.25 times greater than that of either carbohydrate or protein. This ether-soluble material is in all cases crude fat, by which we understand that non-fatty substances like chlorophyll and coloring matter may be included therein.

Accessory Nutritive Factors. In this class are included the vitamines. There is not likely to be a deficiency of the vitamines A, B and C in rations of domestic animals; and they will not lack

the antirachitic vitamine if green fodder or properly cured leguminous hay is supplied. The beneficial influence of sunlight upon the growth and development of animals has also been strikingly demonstrated, and it may be classed with the vitamines as an accessory nutritive factor.

DIGESTIBLE NUTRIENTS.

Coefficients of digestibility for some common commercial concentrates are given in the following table.

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CLASSIFICATION OF SAMPLES.

Commercial feeding stuffs and other fodder materials examined during the past year may be summarized as follows:

Official samples drawn by the Station agent.

200

Samples submitted by purchasers or drawn by the Station
agent upon request. ...

63

Samples examined in connection with experimental work at
the Storrs Station...

91

Total...

354

INSPECTION OF 1924.

Two hundred official samples were drawn by the Station agent during November and December, 1924. These samples and those 1 Henry and Morrison: Feeds and Feeding, 18th Ed.

submitted by, or at the request of, purchasers are discussed in this report.

Samples secured for inspection purposes may be classified as follows:

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REMARKS ON ANALYSES.

(Analyses in Table II, pages 505-526.)

Definitions of feeding stuffs here quoted are those adopted by the Association of Feed Control Officials.

COTTONSEED MEAL.

41.12 Per cent. Protein Cottonseed Meal, Choice Quality, must be finely ground, not necessarily bolted, perfectly sound and sweet in odor, yellow. free from excess of lint, and must contain at least 41.12 per cent. crude protein, equivalent to 8 per cent. of ammonia.

Cottonseed meal not fulfilling the above requirements as to color, odor, or texture, shall be branded Off Quality.

38.56 Per cent. Protein Cottonseed Meal, Prime Quality, must be finely ground, not necessarily bolted, of sweet odor, reasonably bright in color, yellow, not brown or reddish, free from excess of lint, and must contain at least 38.56 per cent. crude protein, equivalent to 7.5 per cent. of ammonia.

Cottonseed meal not fulfilling the above requirements as to color, odor or texture, shall be branded Off Quality.

36 Per Cent. Protein Cottonseed Meal, Good Quality, must be finely ground, not necessarily bolted, of sweet odor, reasonably bright in color, free from excess lint and must contain at least 36 per cent. crude protein, equivalent to 7 per cent. of ammonia.

Cottonseed Meal not fulfilling the above requirements as to color, odor or texture, shall be branded Off Quality.

Seven samples were examined two of which viz., Dixie, 778, and Neal's Choice, 749, were deficient by large amounts. Dixie, guaranteed 41.12 per cent. of protein and not over 10 per cent. of fiber was found to contain 33.75 per cent. of protein and 13.88 per cent. of fiber. Analysis of the duplicate which was left with the dealer by our agent, No. 1419, showed 34.88 per cent. of protein. In the case of Neal's Choice, 749, the guaranty called for 43 per cent. protein and not more than 10 per cent. of fiber whereas 34.38 per cent. of protein and 13.93 per cent. of fiber were found. This stock was resampled, No. 1361, and showed a protein content of 33.88 per cent. These deficiencies are unusual; the products were, in fact, cottonseed feeds.

The other samples met the guaranties in all respects.

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