74 FEEDS AND FEEDING 



106. Feeding ruminants concentrates only. By reason of their high 

 ability to digest coarse roughage, ruminants are especially adapted to 

 convert the coarse plant materials of no value for human food into useful 

 products. Tho only under most exceptional conditions would it be profit- 

 able to feed such animals concentrates alone, the question whether they 

 can be maintained on such feeds with no roughage is of scientific 

 interest. 



In 1874 a Mr. Miller of New York 23 reported that for several years he 

 had maintained dry dairy cows for 8 weeks in winter in fair condition 

 on corn meal alone. At first the cows were restless, but soon quieted 

 down and rumination, or chewing the cud, ceased. The cows showed no 

 signs of suffering or unrest and manifested no unusual desire for hay 

 when it was shown them. The calves from these cows were healthy and 

 active. 



A 2-year-old steer fed for nearly 8 months only grain and water by 

 Sanborn 24 at the Utah Station made fair gains. Furthermore, in Great 

 Britain sheep are often fattened solely on concentrates and roots. We 

 may therefore conclude that mature ruminants can be maintained for 

 considerable periods on concentrates alone. 



With young ruminants Nature is less yielding, for most attempts to 

 raise calves on milk alone or milk and grain without hay or other rough- 

 age have failed, as is shown in a later chapter. (692) 



107. Horse requires roughage. Patterson of the Maryland Station 25 

 attempted to feed 2 horses on oats alone, offering from 13 to 15 Ibs. to each 

 daily. By the end of the fourth day one of the horses refused the oats 

 entirely and drank but little water. On the seventh day the other horse 

 would eat only a part of the grain, and by the tenth day none whatever. 

 Evidently the horse cannot live upon concentrates alone, even oats with 

 their straw-like hulls. 



108. Roughage for pigs. Swine have been raised with fair success on 

 milk alone without grain or roughage in trials by McCollum and later by 

 Hart and Steenbock at the Wisconsin Station. 26 However, when pigs are 

 restricted to rations of concentrated feeds, such as grain and a limited 

 amount of milk or grain with linseed meal or wheat middlings, they often 

 become stiff and "rheumatic" and may finally become unable to walk. 

 This condition, which resembles rickets in humans, may be prevented by 

 adding legume hay to the ration, as is explained in Chapter XXXIII. 

 (918) 



109. Succulent feeds. Numerous scientific trials and common expe- 

 rience on farms have abundantly demonstrated the value of adding 

 succulent feeds to the rations of farm animals. The beneficial effects 

 of succulence, whether supplied as pasturage, silage, soilage, or roots, 

 are many. Just as our own appetites are stimulated by fruits and green 



23 Rpt. Am. Dairyman's Assoc., 1874. 



2 *Utah Bui. 21. 25 Md. Bui. 51. ""Unpublished data. 



