17 



erally rather high. Their nutritive ingredients are principally protein 

 and carboliydrates. The high crude filler content is due to the fact 

 that these products represent the outer layers of the grain, which are 

 more hard and firm in construction than the interior portion, which 

 consists largely of starch. 



The total number of tests to compare different feeding stuflfs for 

 horses which have been undertaken by the agricultural experiment 

 stations in the United States is not large compared with the tests 

 made with other farm animals. The results obtained are, however, 

 interesting. Some of those which have to do with grain, whole and 

 ground, follow: 



At the Maine Station Jordan " made a comparison with oats and a 

 mixture of one-third pea meal and two-thirds middlings for Percheron 

 colts. No advantage was observed for the oats over the mixture. A 

 comparison of oats with mixed grains (middlings, gluten meal, and 

 linseed meal), also made with colts, showed that considerabl}^ larger 

 gains were made on the mixed grain ration, which was also the more 

 nitrogenous. 



At the Utah Station J. W. Sanborn^ tested the effect of feeding 

 grains (rye, oats, and bran) and cut hay, mixed and separatel3\ So 

 far as the test showed, the two methods of feeding were equally satis- 

 factory. No regular variation in the weight of the two lots of horses 

 was observed when the comparative value of the whole and cut hay 

 (alfalfa and clover mixed) was tested. 



The comparative value of corn and oats supplementing bran and 

 hay was also tested at the Utah Station.'' The grains were ground 

 and mixed before feeding. In these and other tests referred to above 

 it appears that during the summer corn and timothy were not as good 

 as oats, wheat, and clover for maintaining horses. During the winter 

 corn and timothy were as satisfactory as oats, clover, and timothy in 

 maintaining weight. During the spring and summer wheat or bran 

 and mixed hay produced greater gains in weight than oats, wheat, or 

 bran and mixed hay. In another triaH corn meal and timothy hay 

 did not sustain work horses as well as oats, wheat, and clover hay. 



The value of oats versus bran and shorts, the feeding value of wheat, 

 wheat versus bran and ground wheat, were tested with horses and 

 mules by J. H. Shepperd' at the North Dakota Station. Bran and 

 shorts were found to have practically the same feeding value as oats. 

 Unground wheat was poorly digested, and it was therefore believed 

 undesirable to feed it as a sole grain ration. When wheat was added 

 to a ration of bran and shorts 1:1 no advantage was gained. On the 

 basis of tests reported, bran and ground wheat 1:2 was considered 



« Maine Station Rpt. 1890, p. 68. c^Utah Station Rpt. 1892, p. 30. 



b Utah Station Bui. 13. « North Dakota Station Bui. 20. 



c Utah Station Bui. 36. 



17399— No. 125—03 2 



