4SO 



The Couutrv Gentleman's Magazine 



Commercial wheatmeal is frequently only a mixture of 

 inferior flour and bran or shaqjs. Being very difficult 

 to keep, it is often ofifered in a very bad condition ; 

 from overheating it gets sour and musty, and greatly 

 deteriorated in value. It is not often adulterated ; 

 if there are any suspicions of the sample not being 

 pure, the microscope will be found useful in detecting 

 the husks of any seed which has been mixed with the 

 Avheat. It is a good jilan to take half an ounce of the 

 meal, place it in a glass, pour over it four or five 

 ounces of clear water, and keep stining the mixture 

 for five minutes ; after allowing this to settle for a 

 minute or two the liquid containing the floating 

 i:>articles should be carefully poured into another 

 vessel, fresh water should again be added to the glass 

 containing the sediment, and the process repeated 

 until the water comes off quite clear. The residue 

 may then be examined for sand, carbonate of lime, 

 plaster of Paris, &c. The floating particles in the 

 water poured off may be collected on a blotting-paper 

 filter, and examined with a microscope for sawdust, 

 the husks of seeds, &c. 



Barhymcal is largely used for feeding all kinds of 

 stock. It is not so valuable as wheatmeal, contains 

 less flesh-forming matters, and a much larger propor- 

 tion of indigestible woody fibre. It contains a large 

 percentage of heat-giving materials, and is well suited 

 fi>r fattening animals. For fattening pigs it is ver)' 

 valuable ; it has been found that seven pounds of this 

 meal will add nearly one and a quarter pound to the 

 live weight of a pig. To cattle in the last stage of the 

 fattening process we have known as much as i8 lb. 

 per head daily given. We do not, however, believe 

 that it is economical to give such a large quantity ; the 

 food cannot be all assimilated. Excepting under 

 very unusual circumstances, it is not profitable to give 

 more than one-third this amount. Barleymeal is best 

 given along with bean or peameal ; for fattening 

 1 )easts of sixty imperial stones, a mixture of 5 lb. of 

 the former, with 3 lb. of one of the latter, will lie 

 found to produce satisfactory' results. Tlie following 

 i - an analysis of a good sample of barleymeal : — 



Per cent. 



Moisture I4- 1 5 



Starch, gum, sugar, &c 60. 26 



Woody fibre 11.58 



I. Nitrogenous compounds 10.84 



Ash 3-17 



centage of indigestible woody fibre, and its addition 

 to the meal must be looked upon as an adulteration. 

 Barleymeal may be examined for adulterations in the 

 same manner as we suggested for the examination of. 

 wheatmeal. If it is supposed to contain sand in any 

 quantity, the amount can easily be ascertained by 

 burning one hundred grains in a platinum capsule ; 

 the ash should not weigh more than four or five 

 grains, and greater part should be dissolved on the 

 addition of dilute hydrochloric acid. 



Oatmeal, as generally manufactured, is seldom em- 

 ployed for feeding stock. When it can be purchased 

 at a reasonable price, it will be found highly advan- 

 tageous to employ it in addition to some other food. 

 In manufacturing ordinary commercial oatmeal the 

 oats are invariably kiln-dried, and the outer husks 

 removed before being ground. We thus obtain a 

 meal which contains from fifteen to twenty per cent, 

 less of woody fibre and moisture than if the oats were 

 gi-ound without imdergoing these processes. The 

 following is an analysis of oatmeal made from oats 

 in their natural state : — 



Per cent. 



M oisture 1 2. 80 



a Nitrogenous compounds 12.72 



Starch, sugar, gimi, &c 55- 5° 



Woody fibre 14. 80 



Ash 4.18 



a Containing nitrogen 



I. Containing nitrogen. 



1-73 



Barley dust is frequently mi.xed with the meal ; 

 this dust is the refuse obtained in the manufacture of 

 pot or pearl barley, if the latter it is nearly as good as 

 the meal itself. The refuse of the pot barley manu- 

 facture is, however, very inferior, contains a large per- 



There is a smaller quantity of moisture in this 

 sample than is found in the whole oat, possibly this 

 is due to evaporation during grinding ; there is a 

 larger quantity of flesh-fonuing mattei-s and a smaller 

 quantity of fat-forming materials than is usually found 

 in a meal made from oats in their natural state. This 

 meal should be much more largely employed in feed- 

 ing. There cannot be the least doubt but that meal 

 thus manufactured is much superior to oats simply 

 bruised. At the present price of oats, such meal 

 might be made at £,\\ or £\z per ton, 

 while the ordinary commercial oatmeal cannot be 

 purchased under ;^i8. Allowing for the smaller quan- 

 tity of moisture and woody fibre the latter contains, it 

 is fifteen or twenty per cent, dearer than the former 

 for feeding purposes. For old horses, this meal, along 

 with bran, is very suitable. Three or four pound per 

 day given to dairy cattle will be found to increase the 

 (piantity and improve the quality of the milk ; it 

 should be given in the form of a mash, along with 

 bran or sharps. 



Ryemeal is much more largely used on the Con- 

 tinent than in this country for feeding purposes. 

 The grain of rye approaches nearest to that of 

 wheat in the quantity of gluten it contains ; it is also 



