124 FEEDS AND FEEDING, ABRIDGED 



or rolled, except for sheep. Finely ground meal or wheat flour forms 

 a pasty mass in the mouth, which can be prevented by mixing with it 

 such materials as bran or coarse corn meal. 



There is no appreciable difference in feeding value between spring 

 and winter wheat. Durum or macaroni wheat, extensively grown in 

 the northern plains states, has practically the same composition and 

 feeding value as ordinary wheat. 



Flour manufacture. — The wheat kernel is covered with three straw- 

 like coats or skins. Beneath these comes the aleurone layer, high in 

 crude protein. The germ, or embryo plant, in each kernel is rich in 

 oil, crude protein, and mineral matter. The remainder of the kernel 

 consists of thin-walled cells packed with starch grains. Among the 

 starch grains are protein particles called ''gluten," that give wheat- 

 flour dough the tenacity needed in bread making. In producing flour 

 the miller aims to secure all the starch and gluten possible from the 

 wheat grains, while avoiding the bran, which makes the flour brownish, 

 and the germs, which soon turn rancid and injure the keeping quality. 



In modern milling, flour is produced by passing the thoroly cleaned 

 wheat thru a series of steel rollers, each succeeding pair being set a 

 little nearer together, so that the kernels are gradually crushed into 

 smaller and smaller particles. The flour is removed by sifting or 

 passing the material over bolting cloth, and finally only the by- 

 products remain. These form 25 to 33 per ct. of the weight of the 

 entire grain. 



The names of the various mill products differ somewhat in various 

 sections of tbe country, but those most commonly used are given in 

 the articles which follow. 



Wheat bran. — Bran, which consists of the outer coatings of the 

 wheat kernel together with the aleurone layer, is one of the most 

 popular of the cereal by-products for stock feeding. It is fairly rich 

 in digestible protein, and is fair in digestible carbohydrates and fat. 

 It is a most palatable feed, and, being bulky, is excellent to mix with 

 such heavy concentrates as corn, wheat, or barley meal. It also has a 

 beneficial laxative effect, due to a certain phosphorous compound. 

 Bran from mills lacking machinery for perfect separation of the starch 

 from the bran coats is somew^hat lower in protein and correspondingly 

 higher in starch than bran from large mills. The difference in feed- 

 ing value is but slight. 



Bran is rich in phosphorus, needed in large amounts by growing 

 animals and those producing milk, but it is deficient in calcium (lime). 

 Due to this lack, horses heavily fed on bran sometimes suffer from 

 "bran disease," which seriously affects their bones. When large 

 amounts of bran are used, it should therefore be fed with feeds rich 



