§ THE EARL OF HAREWOOD rose to ask the President of the Board of Agriculture "what was the name of the cattle food which was referred to in this House on June 27 as being composed partly of sawdust; and if it is not a fact that the product referred to was not that made entirely from sugar-cane, which is proving of so much service both to the sugar-cane grower and to the British agriculturist."
§ The noble Earl said: My Lords, the Question which I ask the noble Earl the President of the Board of Agriculture does require, I think, a few words of explanation. On June 27 last, Lord Clifford of Chudleigh asked the noble Earl opposite a question with regard to the Fertilisers and Food Stuffs Act, as to why a prosecution was not instituted by the Board of Agriculture in reference to a food stuff which was examined by the official analyst of the Devon County Council and found to consist of forty per cent. of sawdust. In his answer the noble Earl stated that the mixture contained molasses obtained from sugar-cane, and that some absorbent material was added whereby a sort of powder was obtained which was sprinkled over the hay or feeding stuff, a departure from the practice of sprinkling with water. The absorbent material, said the noble Earl, was no doubt derived from wood; there was no doubt at all it was sawdust which had undergone some chemical treatment whereby it became to some extent digestible.
§ My Lords, I am not concerned with the composition of this feeding stuff, nor am I particularly curious to know its name. I merely ask the noble Earl this Question because it has been brought to my notice by the West India Committee, 340 of which I am a member, that the answer given on June 27 has considerably damaged the sale of two food stuffs which are imported from the West Indies, and which have proved of considerable benefit to agriculturists in this country, and, I believe, also in Canada. Those two feeding stuffs are, first, Molascuit, and secondly, Colco. Into the composition of Molascuit sawdust does not enter at all. It is manufactured entirely from sugar-cane products, and nothing else, and on looking at the analysis which I have in my hand I find that the quantity of indigestible fibre contained in that feeding stuff is 5.91, and the absorbent used for the purpose of absorbing the molasses and rendering it suitable for exportation for cattle food is entirely the interior fibre of the sugarcane finely screened, the greater part of which is digestible. So that no sawdust enters into the manufacture of Molascuit.
§ Then in the case of Colco, the anaylsis of which I also hold in my hand, the quantity of fibre, which! I presume is the indigestible part of the food, amounts to 12.84; so that it appears that in neither case does sawdust enter into the composition of these foods. The answer which the noble Earl gave on the occasion I have quoted has caused great damage to the sale of these foods, and, as your Lordships know very well, when a portion of the community, especially the agricultural community, get an idea into their heads, it requires a very distinct and public statement to get it out again, and it is with the object of making this as public as it is in my power to make it that I ask the noble Earl this Question.
§ EARL CARRINGTONMy Lords, the noble Earl has referred to the question that was brought up on June 27 last, and perhaps I may in a very few words repeat what I then said. We all know that there are several patented sugar foods for cattle. They are composed, as my noble friend has said, of molasses absorbed into a product called cellulose which is manufactured either from wood or peat fibre. The absorbent to which the noble Earl has called attention is used as a medium merely for absorbing the molasses, and as I am informed is of very little or no feeding value whatever. The appearance of these manufactured foods is, I believe, something like the coarse sugar which is well known to us in shops—
§ THE EARL OF HAREWOODI am sorry to interrupt the noble Earl, but I beg to remind him that the analyses which I have quoted show that neither wood nor peat fibre is a component part of the foods that I have referred to.
§ EARL CARRINGTONThe noble Earl mentioned the word sugar-cane, and I think that those who have been to a good school will remember that cane is wood.
§ THE EARL OF HAREWOODIt is the interior soft portion of the sugar-cane, not the outside.
§ EARL CARRINGTONThese sugar foods are used in small quantities, not as regular food but as appetisers or relishes. A bullock will eat about a hundredweight of roots and swedes in a day and 15 to 20 lbs. of hay, and as an appetiser 5 to 7 lbs. per diem of these sugar foods. Those figures show, therefore, that these foods are simply used, as I have said, as appetisers or relishes, and not as regular food for cattle. The products in which my noble friend is interested include the refuse, I believe, of the sugar-cane, scientifically treated; 342 the others, as I said before, are prepared from wood or peat. I think the House will agree that it does not fall within my province as President of the Board of Agriculture to make any comparisons or to draw any distinctions in this House between the different forms of patented sugar foods. Still less ought I, I think, to make any statement whatever which might be used either as an advertisement or a disparagement of any particular manufacture. My duty, I conceive, is to see that the provisions of the. Fertilisers and Food Stuffs Act are properly carried out. Therefore I am not prepared to give the name of the cattle food which was referred to in this House on June 27; and as to the value of the cane food which was mentioned in the speech of my noble friend, I do not think, either from the point of view of the manufacturer or the British agriculturist, I ought to be asked to offer any opinion. I therefore very much regret that I am unable to meet the wishes expressed by my noble friend opposite.
§ House adjourned at a quarter before Eight o'clock, till To-morrow, Four o'clock.