THE FEEDING OF FARM BTO< K.. 771 



Class I. Foods rich in Albuminoids. — First in order of nitrogen-content 

 e the different oil-cakes, decorticated cotton-seed cake being the richest, 

 with over 40 per cent, albuminoids, followed by linseed and coco-nut cake, 

 with about 30 and 20 per cent, respectively. The Leguminous seeds come 

 next, peas and beans containing from 20 to 22 per cent, albuminoids. 

 Another fairly nitrogenous feed is dried brewers' grains, the dried malt 

 residues after the sugar has been extracted by the brewer; both these and 

 malt sprouts (the dried shootlets of the germinating barley) are used 

 extensively for feeding cattle in other countries. 



Dried brewers' grains contain about the same amount of nitrogenous matter 

 as beans and peas. Bran comes next with about 12 per cent., and then the 

 cereals, oats, rice, wheat, barley, maize, with from 10 to 12 per cent, 

 albuminoids. The best clover hay contains about the same quantity, hay 

 from the grasses being somewhat lower in nitrogen. Good lucerne hay 

 contains as much as 14 per cent, nitrogenous matter. 



Class II, Foods rich in Fat or Oil. — Amongst the fatty foods, some of the 

 oily seeds, such as linseed, sunflower seed, &c, come easily first, linseed 

 itself containing over 34 per cent, of oil. Such seeds in the shape of ground 

 meal may be occasionally fed, but both on account of their cost and their 

 extreme richness in oil need not be considered as ordinary stock foods, 

 except under special circumstances. The crushed cakes of these seeds from 

 which the oil has been pressed are waste-products of the highest economical 

 value as a food. They are extremely rich, as we have already seen, in nitro- 

 genous material, and contain a considerable proportion of oil, varying accord- 

 ing to the nature of the original substance and the process by which the 

 oil has been extracted. Of these, linseed, cotton seed, rape seed, and coco-nut 

 cake are the richest in oil, running from 8 per cent, in the case of rape cake 

 up to 11 or 12 in the case of linseed or coco-nut. 



Dried brewers' grains are also fairly rich in oil, containing as much as 

 3 per cent. Of the cereals, oats and maize are the richest in oils, with 

 5 to 6 per cent., whilst bran contains about 4 per cent. 



Class III , Foods rich in Carbohydrates. — In this class are found the cereal 

 grains, wheat and maize heading the list with over 70 per cent, carbohydrates 

 (principally starch), bran containing about 50 per cent., and the pulses, peas 

 and beans, about the same quantity. Brewers' grains and meadow-hay come 

 next with from 40 to 45 per cent., and these are followed by the straws of 

 the different cereals, with an average content of 35 to 37 per cent., and the 

 oil-cakes, which contain from 30 to 35 per cent, carbohydrates. 



Class IV, Foods rich in Mineral Matter. — Of the foods rich in* mineral 

 matter, the oil-cakes are all fairly high, with an average of 6 to 8 per cent., 

 bran and hay (clover and grass) being a little lower. The cereal straws are 

 also fairly rich in mineral matter, containing between 4 and 5 per cent- 

 The cereal grains are not particularly rich in salts, except rice, rice-meal 

 being sometimes exceptionally high, and containing as much as 8 per cent., 

 of which phosphates form a considerable part. Phosphates are also well 

 represented in the ash of the oil-cakes and of bran, the ash of the cereal 

 straws, on the other hand, being low in phosphates. 



The above comprise the foods in which one or other of the nutritive 

 ingredients predominate, grouped into classes according to their richness in 

 these essentials. A few of them, such as the oil-cakes, brewers' grains, &c, 

 we see are rich in more than one such constituent. 



These are all concentrated foods, the percentage of water present in any 

 of them never rising above 16 per cent., and the amount of fibre, or indi- 

 gestible matter, never exceeding 10 to 11 per cent., except in the cas^ of 

 the hays and straw?. 



