186 



DESCRIPTION OF FEEDING STUFFS 



products, it is of rather uniform quality and free from adultera- 

 tions. 



Rice By-products. In the milling of rice several by-products 

 are obtained which are used for stock feeding. The rice grains 

 are covered by two layers : The outer coat, a hard, chaffy husk which 

 is easily removed, and the inner coat, a closely-fitting cuticle or 

 skin. The removal of these coatings and the manufacture of 

 marketable rice are done by three operations: Husking, hulling, 

 and polishing. Husking is accomplished by passing the rice be- 

 tween revolving millstones, which are set far enough apart to 

 crack the hull and allow the rice to fall out without cracking 

 it too much. The hulls are not removed completely, there being 

 always some grains which retain their husk. The by-product from 

 this process is rice hulls. The rice is next passed through one or 

 more hullers, which remove the cuticle or skin. The products of 

 this machine are rice bran, some flour, and clean rice. The final 

 process consists in polishing the rice, which is done in a special 

 machine and gives the rice its lustre. The by-product from this 

 process is a finely-powdered material, known as rice polish. Three 

 by-products used for stock feeding are thus obtained in these 

 processes, viz., rice hulls, rice meal, and rice polish. 



Rice hulls are used as a fuel at the mills and for packing eggs, 

 etc. ; they are also sometimes ground and sold as " husk meal " or 

 " Star bran," or used as an adulterant of rice bran. They are, how- 

 ever, of no value as a feed, and are, in fact, injurious to stock, being 

 provided with sharply-pointed fibers, which are strongly impreg- 

 nated with silica. When taken into the stomach and intestines of an 

 animal they provoke an intense irritation of the delicate membranes 

 of these tracts, and may cause impaction of the bowels; fatalities 

 are on record resulting from animals eating rice hulls or rice bran 

 adulterated with hulls. 6 



The average chemical composition of the rice by-products is 

 shown in the following table: 



Composition of Rice By-products, in Per Cent 



6 Browne, Louisiana Planter and Sugar Manufacturer, June 13, 1903; 

 Louisiana Bulletin 77. 



