LEGUMES 93 



Millet is ground or cracked, rice is hulled, and either are fed raw or 

 cooked, mixed with chaffed feed. Both are used mainly as horse feed 

 as substitutes for part of the oat ration. Cooked rice is also widely 

 used as a feed for dogs and is highly prized for this. 



f. Buckwheat 



Buckwheat, although, strictly speaking, not a grain, but a member of 

 the sorrel-wort family ( Polygonacese ) , to which belong the various kinds 

 of dock, knotgrass, water peppers, smartweed and garden rhubarb or 

 pie plant, is very similar to the grains, and especially to wheat, in its 

 nutritive value. It contains 7.5 per cent digestible albumen, 53 per cent 

 starch value, 2 per cent crude fat, 62 per cent nitrogen-free extract, 10 

 per cent crude fiber, 2 per cent mineral matter and 14 per cent of water. 

 When cracked or coarsely ground it is occasionally used as a substitute 

 for part of the grain ration of heavy work horses, but also for working 

 oxen, fattening cattle and swine. It is cooked for the latter, and is used 

 to replace one-half of the grain rations of these classes of animals. The 

 feeding of buckwheat is only rarely followed by the toxic effects men- 

 tioned in detail on page 51. The toxic substance is present in the hull. 

 The danger of possible poisoning may easily be avoided by removing the 

 hulls by screening. 



2. The Legumes 



The legumes are characterized by their high content of albumen or pro- 

 tein, which varies between 14 and 30 per cent. Of all natural feeding 

 stuffs (those not altered by commercial processes) the legumes are the 

 richest in protein. The soy bean, serradella {Ornithopus sativtts) and the 

 lupines have a high fat content in addition (17, 8 and 4 to 7 per cent 

 respectively). The remaining legumes which concern us as feeding 

 material have a fat content equal to that of most of the grains, 1.5 to 2 

 per cent. The mineral content (salts of lime and phosphoric acid) is 

 also high (3 to 4 per cent) compared with the grains. But the amount 

 of nitrogen-free extract is considerably lower. The starch value varies 

 between 50 and 83 per cent. The following are most important for 

 feeding purposes : Peas, beans, vetches, serradella, soy beans and 

 lupines. 



a. Field Beans, Peas, Vetches and Serradella 



Botanical. — Progenitors: Field beans {Vicia faha), pea (Pisum ar- 

 vense), vetch (Vicia sativa), serradella {Ornithopus sativus). 



While Pisiim sativum (sugar pea, dwarf and climbing pea) are culti- 

 vated in our gardens as a vegetable, P. arvense (field pea) is cultivated 

 exclusively as a forage plant. 



Chemical. — Beans, peas, vetches and serradella have about the same 

 chemical composition and digestive coefficient. They are therefore used 

 as feed in the same way. They contain on an average 14 per cent of 



