The times and democrat. [volume] (Orangeburg, S.C.) 1881-current, 1906-02-22
STOCK FOODS
AND CONDITION POWDERS AND
WHAT THEY COST.

AND CONDITION POWDERS AND
WHAT THEY COST.
Hundreds ef Dollars care Paid Per
Ton for Some That Does Not
Cost Twenty.
The large amount Ct hard cash paid
out by the farmers end other stock
ownesg Of this State for patent stock
FOODS and condition powders rendera
the fullest information concerning
their composition and merits desi1a-
lie. II these compounds possess any
value il must be az either food or
medicine. At one time the msnufsc
turers OF many of them made strong
claims as to their food value, as iDdl'
Gated by the names they bear, but
the work of the chemist easily show
ed their rather low food values, and
is accordingly became necessary for
the manuf cturers to modify their
original claims.
At present most e the stock food
manufacturers base their claims for
patronage on the alleged value OF the
compounds as condiments and medi-
cines. It was too easy for the chen ist
snd feeders to determine their true
food value. Apparently became ne.
t,essary, in order to maintain their
: sale, to transfer them to the uncer-
tain and intangible field OF medicine.
The mystery and popular ignorance
concerning medical practice make 1t q
5nuch more secure field In which to
exploit fictitious claims. AS medlci-
nal or condimentsl agents, 1t is claim
I'd that these patent compounds pre-
vent certain diseases, cure large
variety Of Others, and enable the ami.
mails to digest more food and make
better use of it.
Let Us briefly consider these claims.
The first steo in this will be to ascer'
tain Just what these powders contain.
Fortunately, the Experiment Stations
hare furnished this Information In
such q way as to preclude any proba
bility of error. Massachusetts,, Con-
necticut and North Carolina published
bulletins on this subject so nearly at
the same time as to make 1t certain
that tie work was done independent
ly and without any knowledge OF one
another's results, and the c,oss agree
ment OF their findings gives additional
assurance of their accuracy.
During the past year or two, Inter
national Stock Food has been rxter :
sivsly advertised and considerable OF
ttsold in this State. For this reason,
let us select this compound as an ex-
ample and give its composition as
published In the bulletins just REFER.
ed to. According to the Connecticut
Experiment Station, Bulletin No. 1872
International Stock Food contains
wheat feed, cayenne, salt, charcoal
and some bitter drug; Massachusetts,
Bulletin, No. II, says 1t contains
wheat ofal, pepper, salt, charcoal and
some material rich in protein, and
the December Bulletin of the North
Carolina Department Of Agriculture
says it consists Of wheat bran, red
Pepper, charcoal and linseed meal. It
viii be noticed. that all agree that 3
wheat product Of some sort is the
principal ingredient. Pepper and
charcoal are also found by all three;
while salt and 8 material rich In pre-
tein-linseed meal by North Carolina
axe found by two, and bitter drug
by one. This is, indeed, a remarkable
unanimity Of results.
&We are now in position to judge
Of the accuracy Of the claims made
fos these compounds. There are two
ways of doiog that. First, after the
chemist and the m,croscopist have
tod Us the ingredients they contain,
the medical man may judge OF their
value or eff ct, when used Ill medical
practice; from bis knowledge Of medi.
cal science. Judged on this basis. We
give it as our professional opirion
that what bran, salt, pepper. caar-
coal, etc., possess no marked medici
nal virtue for either prevention or
cure Of diseases; but If any one does
not care to accept our opinion, We
ask him to 90 to bis family physician,
in Whcm he has corfdeEoe, and ask
him If tkesa substances are OF much
value IS medicines. and we are willing
TO abica ty his reply.
The second methud Of Judging of
the value of these cond mental stock
foods or cordition powders is by &C
tual trials or feeding tests, but it may
be stated that NO trial is either prac-
tical or worthy the name Ut 8 test
unless the food and the animals are
both weighed, and unless another lot
of animals of tbs same quality, age,
size and condition, and kept and other
wise fed in the same manner, are
compared with those received the con-
6imental foods. Fortunately, several
tests of this sort have been made, and
while made by those whom the man
ufaoturers sneeringly term Theoretical
feeders, are the only real practical
tests made OF the feeding value OF
these patent foods. Two tests have
been made at the Kansas Experiment
Station with dairy COWS with the fol.
lowing results:
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