336 CRANFIELD : EFFECT OF FEEDING THE EFFECT OF FEEDING ON THE COMPOSITION OF COTTON CAKE. BY HAROLD T. CRANFIELD. BUTTER :* DECORTICATED GROUND NUT CAKE AND DECORTICATED IN the spring of this year a feeding experiment was designed and carried out a t the Midland Agricultural and Dairy College, comparing the value of ground nut cake against decorticated cotton cake as a food for dairy cows, and in this paper is given the effects of these feeding stuffs on the composition of butter made from the milk produced during this experiment.Ground nut cake (also called earth nut cake) is the residuum from the extraction of arachis oil which is obtained from the ground nut, Arachis hypogma (also known as earth nut, monkey nut, or pea nut). The plantfrom which this nut is obtained is subtropical, and flourishes in many parts of the world.The bulk of the nuts are exported from India, Nigeria, Gambia, Senegal, and China. Previous to the war ground nuts were chiefly imported by Germany and Holland, and to a lesser extent by France, but during the last tu7o years a large quantity has been diverted to English ports, and English-made cake is now appearing on our markets. The cake has been used extensively for many years on the Continent as a feed- ing stuff for stock, but only a little obtained access to this country.It varies in colour from white to dark brown, according to the quality of the nuts and method of extraction of the oil, the white and greyish-white cakes being, as a rule, the purest and richest in feeding constituents.The nuts are usually decorticated, but occasion- ally undecorticated cakes are met with. The latter are high in woody fibre, and therefore very indigestible. Decorticated ground nut cake is a very palatable food, having a pleasant taste and smell, and is relished by stock. The only likely impurities in the cake are excessive dirt and castor oil seeds. Up to the present time it has been one of the cheapest concentrated cattle foods on our markets during the past two years.The analyses of the two cakes used in this experiment are as follows : Decorticated Ground Nut Cake. Moisture . . .. .. 10.62 Oil .. .. .. .. 7.55 Proteins .. . . 42-96 Soluble Carbohidrates . . 23.76 Fibre . . .. .. .. 9962 Ash . . .. .. .. 5.49 Decorticated Cotton Cake. 9 *27 12.89 39.37 24.45 7.15 6.87 100 .OO Total food units .. .. 149 100*00 155 -- EXPERIMENTAL DETAILS.--These were on the lines of the previous feeding experiments-viz., four carefully selected cows in each set (ANALYST, 1915, 40, 433). The cows were receiving all their food in stall, and their rations were as follows :ON TEE COMPOSITION OF BUTTER DAILY RATION PER Cow. 337 First and Second Weeks : Set' A..3 @ 4 2 4 d 1 4 pounds decorticated ground nut cake. Set B. 56 pounds mangels 14 ,, long hay. 5 ), choppedhay. 1 pound bran. 6 ,, dried yeast. 4 pounds decorticated cotton cake. Third Week (Transition Period).-Set A received il diminishing quantity of ground nut cake and an increasing quantity of cotton cake; Set B vice versa. Fourth and Fifth Weeks.-Set A received the basal ration plus 4 pounds of .decorticated cotton cake, while Set B were fed with the basal ration and 4 pounds of decorticated ground nut cake.Proportionate samples of the mixed milk from each set of cows were taken night and morning on alternate days. These samples were separated and the cream churned after ripening with starter. Butter fat was prepared in the usual way from $he butter, and subjected t o analysis.AVERAGES. Reichert-Meissl Value : Set A .. Set B .. Set A. 31 -30 Xirschner Value : Set A .. Set B .. Set A. 23.50 Polenske Value : Set A .. Set B .. Set A. 1 -90 First and Second Weeks. Fourth and Fifth Weeks. . . 32-32 30.28 .. 31.13 29.29 Set B. From Ground Nut Cake. From Cotton Cake. 30.2 1 30.80 30.70 AVERAGES. First and Second Weeks.Fourth and Fifth Weeks. .. 23.60 23.40 .. 24.22 22.01 Set B. From Ground Nut Cake. From Cotton Cake. 23.1 1 22430 23-81 AVERAGES. First and Second Weeks. Fourth and Fifth Weeks. .. 1 -93 1 *87 .. 1.89 1-96 Set B. From Ground Nut Cake. From Cotton Cake. 1 -92 1.94 1 438 AVERAGES. Refractorneter Figure (35" C.) : First and Second Weeks. Fourth and Fifth Weeks. Set A .. ..45.93 46.93 Set B .. .. 45.93 47-11 Set A. 46.43 Set, B. From Gronnd Nut Cake. From Cotton Cake 46.52 46-52 46.43338 CRANPIELD : EFFECT OF FEEDING It will be seen from the above figures that the differences obtained in the four determinations are very small. One may therefore conclude that these values were not influenced by the change of food. I n spite of the uniformity of these figures, there appeared to be some difference in the composition of the two sets of butters, one set (ground nut) having a ninch lower solidification point than the other set.The ground nut butter was also con- siderably softer than the cotton cake butter. This pointed to a possible variation in the percentages of unsaturated fats. Iodine Absorption Value.-Through the kindness of Mr.H. D. Richmond, I was able to obtain the iodine absorption figures of several of the samples, and the results of his determinations are as follows : SECOND WEEK. Sample No. From Ground Nut Cake. Sample No. From Cotton Cake. A5 . . . . 40.95 B5 . . . . 39.0 A6 . . . . 39.8 BG . . . . 38.8 A7 . . . . 40.55 B7 .. . . 38.4 -- Average . . 40.4 Average . . 38.7 FIFTH WEEK. I316 _ I = : 43.6; ___ A 1 6 i i _ - .43.3 B17 .. . . 43.8 A17 .. . . 43.3 B18 .. . . 43.1 A18 . . . . 43.4 Average . . 43.5 Average . . 43.3 Sample No. From Ground Nut Calte. Sample No. From Cotton Cake. -- These figures are very curious. In the second-week samples we have a marked increase in favour of the ground nut cake, this corresponding with the low solidifica- tion point and the softness of the butter, but in the fifth week the variation is much smaller-in fact, the averages are almost identical.Potash Absorption and SaponiJication Equivalent .-I subsequently made deter- minations of these values on a few of the samples, but both gave normal figures, and no great variations were indicated. GROUND NUT. Sample KO. Potash Absorption. Saponification Equivalent.. . . . 230.1 243.8 A4 . . .. A6 . . .. . . . . 231-4 242 *4 B 1 6 . . . . .. . . 228.6 245 -4 COTTON. Sample No. Potash Absorption. Saponification Equivalent. B4 .. .. . . . . 228.6 245 *4 B6 .. .. . . . . 230.1 243.8 A 1 6 , . .. .. . . 230.1 243.8 The averages of these figures are practically the same.Oh' THE COMPOSITION OF BUTTER 339 Specijic Gravity at 100" F.-Determinations were made on four of the samples by means of a pycnometer, and the results are as follows: GROUND NUT.Sample No. Potash Absorption. Average. A7 .. .. .. . . 0.9145 0.9138 B17 .. .. .. .. 0.9131) COTTON. Sample No. Potash Absorption. Average. B7 .. .. .. . . 0*9140\ A 1 7 . . .. .. . . 0.91361 0.9138 None of these estimations appear to explain conclusively the difference in softness of the two sets of butters, but the supply of fat being exhausted, I was unable to continue the investigation.Quality of the Butter.-Throughout the experiment it was found that the cream from the cotton cake-fed cows took a much longer time in churning than the ground nut samples. The ground nut butters were much softer than the cotton butters. As regards flavour no great differences were noticeable, all samples being quite good.The ground-nut butters were, as a rule, rather darker in colour than the cotton- seed butters. CONCLUSIONS.-NO great differences are apparent in the composition of butter fat produced in this feeding experiment except in the proportion of unsaturated fats, which appear to be rather greater in the samples of butter produced from the ground nut cake feeding. Decorticated ground-nut cake is an excellent food for butter production, but is more suitable for winter feeding, in consequence of the softness of the butter produced. Decorticated cotton cake produces a firm butter of good quality, and is there- fore more suitable for summer feeding. I wish to express my best thanks to Mr. H. D. Richmond for help and advice; to Miss B. Manners for superintending the churning of the butter samples; and to Mr. J. Dunlop for facilities in the collection of the samples of milk. THE MIDLAND AGRICULTITRAL AKD DAIRY COLLEGE.