FARM ANIMALS 29 



meal in the ratio of 60:35:15 respectively the total 

 cost of the ration was 12 cents while when oats 

 were substituted for the grain mixture the ration 

 cost 14 cents per day. The total gain in weight 

 was one and three-tenths pounds on the mixed 

 grains and two-thirds of a pound on oats. In 

 Utah it has recently been found that bran and 

 shorts mixed may be substituted for oats when 

 horses are fed either timothy or alfalfa as roughage. 

 As a rule, the cost of maintaining horses may be 

 reduced by using bran and shorts in the place of 

 oats. In North Carolina when oats were com- 

 pared with cowpeas pound for pound, the ration 

 being 4 pounds per day in addition to wheat, corn 

 and cob meal, and meadow hay, the total cost 

 was 24 . 4 cents in the oat ration and 20.4 cents for 

 the cowpea ration. Both rations proved highly 

 effective and satisfactory, but the cowpeas were 

 evidently the most economical and practical feed 

 for horses in North Carolina. In Maryland a 

 direct test was made of the value of ground oats. 

 In this experiment it was found that while horses 

 readily digested oats either in the whole or ground 

 condition, the grinding increased their digestibility 

 to an appreciable extent. 



Barley. This grain is extensively used to 

 replace oats. Its feeding value is about equal 

 to oats and it is used for horses in California, and 

 almost exclusively as the grain ration of horses in 

 Africa and Asia. In Algeria horses receive scarcely 

 any other grain and since horses in Algeria and 

 Arabia are noted for their speed and endurance 

 it is obvious that barley has great feeding value 

 for horses. Barley is exceedingly hard and should 

 preferably be cracked or crushed. It is still 

 better to mix it with bran or a little molasses. 



