THE CONCENTRATES 169 



Barley is mainly used for stock feeding on the Pacific coast in 

 this country, but in middle and northern Europe it is one of the 

 common grain feeds for farm animals. It makes an excellent feed 

 for horses and dairy cows, and, fed with dairy by-products, produces 

 a fine quality of pork. It is generally fed ground, cracked, or rolled. 

 The last method of preparation is considered preferable, because 

 fine-ground barley forms a pasty mass in the mouth of animals 

 and is more likely to give rise to digestive troubles than when rolled, 

 as is the case with fine-ground corn or corn and oats for horses. 

 There is a prejudice among some farmers against feeding barley 

 to milch cows, but this is doubtless unfounded, for its value for 

 milk production has been fully established. In an experiment at the 

 California University Farm 6 a cow that received green alfalfa or 

 alfalfa hay and only rolled barley in addition, 10 pounds daily as a 

 maximum feed, produced an average of 60 pounds of milk for a 

 period of over three months, and not only did better on this feed, 

 but kept up better in her milk flow than during any previous lacta- 

 tion period. 



Barley is higher in protein and carbohydrates than oats, and 

 lower in fat, containing, on the average, 12.0 per cent protein, 1.8 

 per cent fat, 4.2 per cent fiber, 68.7 per cent nitrogen-free extract, 

 and 2.5 per cent ash. It has a high digestibility, viz., on the average : 



For ruminants, protein 73 per cent, fat 79 per cent, and nitrogen-free 

 extract 92 per cent. 



For horses, protein 80 per cent, fat 42 per cent, and nitrogen-free ex- 

 tract 87 per cent. 



For swine, protein 76 per cent, fat 65 per cent, and nitrogen-free ex- 

 tract 90 per cent. 



While it is considered that rain or foggy weather during ripen- 

 ing injures the quality of barley for brewing, this does not affect 

 its feeding value in any way, and barley unfit for brewing can often 

 be obtained for feeding purposes at a low figure. 



Rye is less used for stock feeding in America than the three 

 cereal grains considered in the preceding. Its value for this purpose 

 is, however, well established. It is the common bread grain in 

 northern Europe, and is also fed to stock when its price is not too 

 high. Rye does not differ greatly from barley in the composition 

 or feeding value. Its average composition is : 11.3 per cent protein, 

 1.9 per cent fat, 1.5 per cent fiber, 74.5 per cent nitrogen-free ex- 

 tract, and 2.1 per cent ash. Its average digestion coefficients, as 

 determined with cows, are : Protein, 80 per cent ; fat, 86 per cent, 

 and nitrogen-free extract, 80 per cent. 



9 Unpublished result^ 



