804 BEGINNINGS IN ANIMAL HUSBANDRY 



priced, and perhaps would cost more than it is really worth. 

 There is no special rule, however, about that matter, and 

 sometimes business combinations control the prices of such 

 feeds, so that one must pay without regard to the actual sup- 

 ply on the market. The following concentrates are quite 

 commonly used, and are those which one should know some- 

 thing about. 



CEREALS AND THEIR BY-PRODUCTS 



Indian corn is our most common grain. It is a food rich 

 in carbohydrates and fat, and is especially valued for fatten- 

 ing animals. It is often called a heating food, on account of 

 its heat or energy value. It is greatly relished by all farm 

 animals, and may be fed on the ear, shelled, or milled into 

 pure meal, or the entire ear may be ground into what we call 

 corn-and-cob meal. While corn is rich in fattening material, 

 it lacks in ash, or mineral matter , so that when fed alone it 

 furnishes a rather one-sided ration. Except during the last 

 part of the fattening period, it should be fed along with some 

 feed rich in protein and ash, such as bran, middlings, etc. 



There are different races of corn. In the more northern 

 parts of the country, as in New England, a small to medium- 

 sized plant, with a somewhat slender ear, covered with hard, 

 flinty kernels, is grown. This is called flint corn. Over 

 most of the country a larger plant, with thicker ears, covered 

 with longer kernels, dented at the outer end, is grown. This 

 is known as dent corn, and makes up most of the corn crop of 

 the United States. Besides these two, we have sugar, or 

 sweet corn, which has a rough-surfaced ear that may be very 

 small or of medium size, covered with kernels that when dry 

 are somewhat shrivelled and tough. This sweet corn con- 

 tains some glucose sugar, which accounts for the pleasant 

 taste of the grain. 



