Leading Cereals and their By-products. 127 



furnislies a balanced ration for farm animals. It follows that 

 this grain meets the requirements of young and growing animals 

 better than corn, a statement which is corroborated by the experi- 

 ence of feeders. Because two or more kinds of feed should always 

 be given rather than one only, the feeder should prize wheat 

 highly for furnishing variety to his usually too short list of avail- 

 able articles. It should also be remembered in considering prices 

 that a bushel of wheat weighs seven per cent, more than a bushel 

 of corn. 



167. Wheat for feeding. — Wheat may be regarded as a satis- 

 factory feed for aU kinds of farm stock, in the hands of intelli- 

 gent feeders. Mixed with com, oats or bran it is superior to 

 either alone for work horses. For fattening cattle and dairy cows 

 it not only furnishes abundance of nutrients, but through variety 

 gives edge to the appetite. When on a visit to William Wat- 

 son, the prince of American feeders, some years since, the writer 

 found him feeding whole wheat of fine quality to sheep in prep- 

 aration for a fat-stock show. For sheep this grain alone or mixed 

 with others may be fed in the entire or whole condition; for 

 other stock it should receive some form of preparation, either 

 grinding, boiling or soaking. During mastication wheat and 

 wheat flour adhere to the gums, forming a pasty mass. This can 

 be prevented by mingling bran, corn meal or some such substance 

 with the wheat or flour. Though a feed of great palatability and 

 healthfulness, wheat does not equal com for fattening purposes, 

 yielding perhaps ten per cent, less returns, (462, 543, 638-9, 

 759-60, 850) 



168. Character of flesh from wheat feeding. — Swift & Co. 

 (Packers, Chicago), replying to an inquiry concerning the char- 

 acter of the flesh of wheat and corn-fed cattle and hogs, wrote :^ 

 * ' There is quite a perceptible difference between wheat and corn- 

 fed hogs and cattle. We do not consider that wheat-fed stock 

 yields as well as corn-fed, there being less fat. The lean meat on 

 wheat- fed cattle has a somewhat brighter red than on corn-fed 

 cattle. The lean meat from wheat-fed hogs is very nice, but as 

 the yield is not so good there is no particular advantage in it to 



1 Prairie Farmer, Oct. 20, 1894. 



