MASSACHUSETTS ANIMAL INDUSTRY 



161 



Work at the Massachusetts Station. 



Experiments with Oat, Barley, Cottonseed and Rice Hulls and Flax Shives. 

 The normal output of oat hulls by three of the leading oat-niilling concerns 

 in the United States has been estimated at over 100,000 tons. Data are not 

 available for the other materials. Ground cottonseed hulls are added in 

 limited amounts to cottonseed meal, and are also fed extensively in the South, 

 unground and mixed with one -quarter their weight of cottonseed meaL 

 Formerly, if not now, they were used as fuel in the cottonseed mills. Rice hulls 

 and flax shives, ground fine, have been used in low-grade feeding stuffs or dis- 

 carded by millers and fanners. 



Any method wiiich would bring about an increased digestibility of tliese, 

 and similar by-products, was considered worthy of investigation. Aside also 

 from the possiltle practical results, it was felt that the facts likely to be 

 broughl; out would be of considerable scientific significance and open the way 

 for further study. 



Method Employed. 



Originality is not claimed for the method used. It was devised by Dr. 

 Ernst Beckman and employed by him and others during the World War for 

 improving the value of different straws. Briefly stated, the method consisted 

 in treating the hulls for three hours, with frequent stirring, with eight times 

 their weigiit of dilute sodium hydrate (1.0, 1.5 or 3 per cent) after which the 

 darkened soda liquor was allowed to drain off and the hulls thoroughly 

 washed with cold water and dried. 



Chemical Composition of the Untreated Hulls. 



The analyses show the several substances to be quite low in protein and 

 fat and high in fiber. The cottonseed and rice hulls, and particularly the 

 flax shives, are very fibrous in character. The character of the fiber governs 

 to an extent digestibility, depending upon the exact nature of the linkage 

 between the cellulose and lignin and possibly upon the chemical nature of 

 the lignin. 



The Action of the Soda (Sodium Hydrate) on the Hulls. 



The above materials were treated with dilute sodium iiydrate (1.5 per 

 cent), as already described. The chemical dissolved out a little of the pro- 



