13 



The problem most often investigated has been the possibility of sub- 

 stituting other grains for oats wholly or in part in the ration of work 

 horses without lowering their efficiency. In this connection the Maine 

 Station studied the value of pea meal and middlings fed in the ratio of 

 1 part of the former to 2 parts of the latter and of mixed grains as com- 

 pared with oats. The Utah Station compared corn and bran and shorts 

 with oats; the North Dakota Station, bran and shorts, barley and bran, 

 and mixed grains. As a whole these and similar tests offered practical 

 demonstrations of the fact that oats could be replaced by other grains 

 when circumstances warranted it. 



At the New Hampshire Station the value of different grain mixtures 

 for horses was studied with a view to learning how the cost of a ration 

 could be diminished by lessening the amount of oats fed. The rations 

 consisted of different mixtures of oats, bran, corn, gluten feed, linseed 

 meal, and cotton-seed meal. Fairly good results were obtained with 

 all the mixtures, that containing cottou-seed meal being least satisfac- 

 tory, as it was not at first relished by the horses. The conclusion was 

 reached that any mixed ration furnishing the desired nutrients at a 

 reasonable price should be considered. A mixture of bran and corn 

 1:1 was regarded as a good substitute for corn and oats for work 

 horses. 



Tests carried on at the Utah Station have demonstrated the value of 

 wheat for horses, a grain which sometimes has so low a market value 

 that it may be profitably fed. 



The North Dakota Station has carried on a number of tests with 

 barley which furnish experimental evidence that this grain is a useful 

 feed. When taxed to the limit by hard work it was found, in the 

 experiments referred to, that the horses could not be supported upon 

 barley quite as well as upon oats, and that it was worth slightly less per 

 pound than oats with animals performing a medium amount of work. 

 Mules did not take as kindl}^ to barley as horses, and dainty horses 

 would not eat it quite as readily as oats. On the Pacific coast barley 

 is extensivel}' grown as a horse feed, and its use for this purpose is old 

 in other countries. Elsewhere barley is not extensively"used as a feed 

 in the United States, doubtless owing to the fact that it is in such 

 demand for brewing purposes that it is usually high in price. 

 Wherever it is grown, however, it is frequently possible to secure at 

 a low cost grain which is off color owing to rain or fog during harvest, 

 and which, for this or some other reason, is unfit for brewing, but 

 valuable as feed. 



Barley may be fed whole to horses having good teeth and not required 

 to do severe work. Since ground barlej^, like wheat, forms a pasty 

 mass when mixed with saliva, it is regarded as more satisfactor}^ to 

 crush than to grind it, if for any reason it is considered undesirable to 

 feed the grain whole. 



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