displayed from the flagstaff over the tower. The flags are five in number, namely, a white flag, indicating fair weather; blue and white, indicating local showers; blue, indicating rain or snow; white with black center, indicating a cold wave or a drop of more than 20° in temperature for the next day, or the first frost of the season. The first three read downward on the staff. When any of them are displayed together, as white above blue, it means fair followed by rain or snow. A triangular black flag is the temperature flag, which displayed above the others indicates rising temperature or warmer, and displayed below the others falling temperature or colder. The cold-wave flag is never displayed with any of the other flags.

The usual weekly snow reports are being sent to the Boston office this season as heretofore and the voluntary observer's reports are sent there monthly.

A summary of the twenty years' records is nearly complete and will be ready for publication soon after the close of the year. I would recommend that it be published as a part of this report.

EFFECT OF SOY BEAN MEAL AND SOY BEAN OIL UPON THE COMPOSITION OF MILK AND BUTTER FAT, AND UPON THE CONSISTENCY OR BODY OF BUTTER.

BY J. B. LINDSEY, E. B. HOLLAND AND P. H. SMITH.

EXPERIMENT IX.

This experiment is the continuation of a series designed to study the effect of different foods and food groups upon the character and composition of the product of the dairy cow.

OBJECT OF THE EXPERIMENT.

The object of the experiment about to be described was to determine the effect of soy bean meal with a minimum percentage of oil and of the soy bean oil (a) upon the proportions of the several milk ingredients; (b) upon the chemical character of the milk fat; and (c) upon the consistency or body of the butter. It was desired, further, to observe the effect of both the beans minus the oil and of the oil itself upon the separation of the fat from the milk serum, time of ripening of the cream and the thoroughness of the churning process. The present investigation, then, may be spoken of as a study in milk secretion to note the effect specific foods and food groups have in modifying the character of the milk product. Studies of the effect of different food groups upon the percentage composition of the milk, and upon the chemical character of the butter fat, have been made by other investigators. It is not intended, at this time, to review the work of others. References, however, will be made to it whenever the circumstances seem to require.

PLAN OF THE EXPERIMENT.

Twelve cows were divided into two lots of 6 each, to be known as herds I. and II. During the first period of four weeks (the first two preliminary) both herds received the same

ration, which is spoken of as the normal ration. During the next period Herd I. continued to receive the normal ration, and Herd II. received an addition of soy beans minus oil, which replaced a like amount of the normal grain ration. During the third period Herd I. continued to receive the same ration as in the two preceding periods, and to the ration of Herd II., after it had been brought back to the normal grain ration, was added a definite amount of soy bean oil. This method was followed instead of adding the oil direct to the soy bean meal ration because of the shortage of soy bean meal, and since it was feared that the bean and excess of oil would have too great a laxative effect upon the animals. The method of feeding enabled one to note the direct effect of soy bean meal and the soy bean oil upon the chemical character of the milk and butter fat.

FEEDING AND CARE OF THE ANIMALS.

The cows were housed in the station barn, especially set apart for feeding experiments. Each animal was kept in a roomy stall, well carded and turned daily into a yard for several hours when the weather conditions permitted. The barn was heated to a temperature of about 50° F., and particular attention was paid to ventilation and the admission of sunlight. The feed was given in two portions daily, and water was kept continually before each animal by means of the Buckley selfwatering device.

WEIGHING.

Each cow was weighed for three consecutive days at the beginning and end of each period, the weighing being done in the afternoon, before feeding.

CHARACTER OF THE FEEDS.

The hay was composed largely of Kentucky blue grass with an admixture of some clover, sweet vernal and a little orchard grass. It was cut when in bloom, well cured, and was considered a first-class hay for milk production. WashburnCrosby's spring bran was used; the oats were bought in one lot and were of extra quality; the corn meal, gluten feed and cotton-seed meal were satisfactory both in appearance and composition. The so-called normal grain ration was composed of the above feed stuffs mixed in the following proportions: 2 pounds bran, 3 pounds ground oats, 114 pounds corn meal, 14 pounds gluten feed and 1⁄2 pound cotton-seed meal. It is not claimed that this ration had any superior advantages over others; it had been found by experience, however, that such a mixture could be fed with comparative safety, and would produce a firm butter, free from any objectionable flavor; it was used, therefore, as a standard for the comparison of other feed stuffs. The soy bean meal was derived from a number of varieties, the medium green and southern yellow predominating. They were shipped to the V. D. Anderson Company of Cleveland, O., and the oil extracted by pressure. The green variety,

according to information from the above firm, furnished 8 per cent. of filtered oil, while the southern variety yielded 11 per cent. The pressed cake from the several varieties was mixed and ground before being fed; the oil from the several containers, which was of a dark brown color, was mixed previous to feeding. According to Lewkowitsch the bulk of the solid fatty acids in the oil consists of palmitic acid and the liquid fatty acids of oleic and linolic acids.1 Our tests showed it to have a saponification value of 191.95, a Hehner number of 95.31 and an iodine value of 130.77. Its chemical character will be more fully discussed in a separate article.

SAMPLING THE FEEDS.

The hay was sampled at the beginning of each period and every two weeks thereafter. This was considered sufficient to furnish reasonably satisfactory information concerning its chemical character. Forkfuls were taken from different parts of the pile, run through a cutter, subsampled, and the reduced sample placed in a large glass-stoppered bottle and taken to the laboratory. A dry matter determination was made immediately and a definite weight of each individual sample composited. The normal grain ration and the soy bean meal were sampled daily into glass-stoppered bottles and dry matter determinations. made at the end of the periods. In case of the normal ration, one analysis was made from a mixture of the three different samples.

SAMPLING THE MILK.

The milk of each cow was sampled twice daily for five consecutive days of each week of the trial, and preserved with formalin in tightly corked bottles. The method of sampling consisted in mixing the freshly drawn milk with a perforated tin disk, 8 inches in diameter, fastened to the end of a rod. This disk was drawn slowly up and down through the quantity of milk a number of times, and then a small dipperful was immediately removed.

1 Technology of Fats, Oils and Waxes, third edition, Vol. II., p. 506.