I20 



THE CEREALS IN AMERICA 



fiber from 1.3 to 15.5 per cent; nitrogen-free extract from 45.5 

 to 70.9 per cent; and fat from 1.5 to 7.0 per cent. 

 The following table shows the average composition : 



High protein content may be accompanied with high content 

 of crude fiber and low content of starch due to exhaustive mill- 

 ing, and equal protein content may result in two samples of bran 

 unequally milled because of differences in the protein content 

 of the wheat used. 



The total phosphorus in wheat bran has been found by the 

 New York (Geneva) Station to be 1.22 per cent, as compared 

 with 0.7 per cent in malt sprouts and 0.4 in oats. It is also 

 more soluble, eighty-seven per cent being soluble in water, as 

 compared with eighty-one per cent in malt sprouts and fifty per 

 cent in oats. Practically all of the soluble phosphorus of wheat 

 bran is of an organic nature.* 



180. Food Value of By-products. — Within the memory of 



many persons now living, the bran spout of grist mills emptied 

 its contents into the river. The by-products of wheat are now 

 among the most highly prized stock foods for all classes of 

 domestic animals. While its value is undoubted, the digest- 

 ibility of bran is not much greater than that of hay of good 

 quality. The esteem in which it is held sometimes causes it to 

 be an expensive food compared with others that are available. 



1 N. Y. (Geneva) Bui. 250 (1904), p. 169. 



