14 EXFEKIMENT STATION RECORD. 



Indian corn. — Our tirst pxporiinents in this lino were made with 

 Indian corn. The}^ were undertaken with all Icinds of horse.s and 

 gave most satisfactory results. The Comjmgnie generale des voitures 

 and the Compagnie generale des omnlhus began about 1870 to feed 

 Indian corn, and the results Avere so satisfactory^ that since that time 

 the first-named company has almost entirely ceased to feed oats. The 

 latter company has continued to feed both oats and corn, effecting a 

 saving of from 1,000,000 to 1,500,000 francs per year. In view of 

 these facts the opponents of corn have been forced to admit that it is 

 a suitable feed for draft horses. They have insisted, however, that 

 sijice it does not contain the so-called stimulating principle "avenine" 

 it should not be used for saddle horses and others where speed is 

 required. Examples of the successful use of corn were cited in the 

 author's earlier pu))lications. The horses of the French expedition 

 in Mexico were fed exclusively on corn. Our recent experiments on 

 cavalry and artiller}^ horses have shown that Indian corn maj' gener- 

 ally replace oats without in any way causing the horses to deteriorate. 

 The horses fed the corn ration were used the same number of hours 

 in the military drill and in the maneuvers, and were ridden at the 

 same gait as those fed exclusively on oats, and it was practically^ 

 impossible to perceive the least difference between the two classes. 

 The arm}" officers, prejudiced as they naturally were, were forced to 

 admit that all the horses showed the same energy and vigor. A care- 

 ful record showed that the sickness and mortality were the same with 

 horses on the two rations. 



Corn and oats are quite similar in composition. In experiments 

 made at the laboratory of the Compagnie generale des omnibus in 

 cooperation with Miintz the author found very high coefficients of 

 digestibility for corn, as shown by the following results: Protein 

 86.1, fat 93.9, sugar and starch 100, crude fiber 82.8, saccharifiable 

 fiber 86.9, undetermined substances 85.2 per cent. These coefficients 

 show that the nutritive ingredients of corn are much more assimilable 

 than has been generally believed in Europe. As regards physical 

 character, oats contain on an average TO to 75 per cent of kernel and 

 25 to 80 per cent of indigestible hull, which resembles straw in com- 

 position. The skin or hull of maize amounts to practicality nothing. 

 These facts show why horses thrive better and are more apt to main- 

 tain their weight on corn than on oats. Our recent experiments have 

 (hnnonstrated that corn can r(>pluce oats in the ration of both cavalry 

 and artillery horses, and if substituted weight for weight it increases 

 the nutritive value of the ration. This is the same deduction which 

 was drawn from the experiments, now more than 25 j^ears old, made 

 for the two great cab companies of Paris. 



Barley. — Although it is well known that barley can replace oats and 

 indeed is a staple feeding stuff for horses in Italy, Algeria, Spain, and 

 other countries where oats can not be raised profitably, experiments 



