FEEDS FOR HORSES 305 



ineal forms a pasty, unpleasant mass when mixed with the saliva in the 

 mouth. Morrison, Fuller, and Bohstedt 11 found in trials at the Wisconsin 

 Station, in which one horse in each of 10 teams at hard work was fed 

 crushed barley and the other crushed oats for 2 months and the rations 

 then reversed, that crushed barley was worth about 10 per ct. more than 

 crushed oats, pound for pound. In trials by Shepperd of the North 

 Dakota Station 12 and Lavalard 13 of France the whole grain was not 

 quite so valuable as a given weight of whole oats. Since barley is not 

 as bulky as oats, there may be slightly more trouble from colic when 

 it is fed. (226) 



479. Wheat. Altho the price of sound wheat usually prohibits its use 

 as a horse feed, that which has been frosted or otherwise damaged, if not 

 moldy, may be fed with economy. Wheat should preferably be rolled 

 and fed in moderate amounts only, mixed with a bulky concentrate, such 

 as bran, or with chaffed forage, to avoid digestive troubles and skin 

 eruptions. (215) 



480. Rye. Rye is not especially palatable to horses, and is apt to 

 produce digestive troubles if fed as the only grain, or if the change to 

 rye is made abruptly. It is satisfactory when fed as only part of the 

 concentrate mixture along with better liked feed, and preferably with 

 oats or some other bulky concentrate. (232) As rye kernels are small 

 and hard they should be ground or preferably rolled. Most of the 

 trouble experienced in feeding rye has doubtless been due to over feed- 

 ing or using grain which was spoiled or contaminated with ergot. (396) 



481. Grain sorghums. In the regions where they flourish, the various 

 grain sorghums are extensively employed for horse feeding, tho some- 

 what less valuable than corn. Being small and hard, they should be 

 ground or crushed, and if possible mixed with bran or middlings, for 

 they tend to produce constipation. These grains may also be fed un- 

 threshed in the heads along with the forage. (235-42) 



482. Cane molasses. Thruout the sugar-cane districts cane molasses is 

 often the most economical source of carbohydrates for work animals. 

 Dalrymple 14 of the Louisiana Station, collecting data from 47 Louisiana 

 sugar plantations employing over 5,000 work animals, chiefly mules, 

 found that an average of 9.5 Ibs. of cane molasses was fed daily to each 

 animal, the maximum being 21 Ibs. The molasses was usually mixed 

 with corn (ground with both cob and husks), other concentrates, or cut 

 hay, but was sometimes fed separately in troughs or poured on uncut 

 roughage. The ration was usually balanced with legume hay or cotton- 

 seed meal. Planters held that the use of molasses reduced digestive dis- 

 turbances and improved the health and endurance of the animals, with 

 a saving of 10 to 50 per ct. in cost of feed. No scouring, such as would be 

 produced by large quantities of beet molasses, was noted. Berns 15 re- 



"Wis. Bui. 319, pp. 68-9. "La. Bui. 86, 1906; Breeder's Gaz., 48, 1905, p. 277. 

 M N. D. Bui. 45. " Amer. Vet. Eev., 26, 1902 r pp. 615-623. 



Expt. Sta. Bee., 12, 1900, p. 14. 



