OAT BY-PRODUCTS FOR FARM STOCK. 



121 



The results with oat hulls show that the sheep were able to digest 34 

 per cent of the hulls, and the horses 22 per cent. The protein and fat 

 content of the hulls is quite small, and the coefficients for these ingredients 

 with both sheep and horses are of no particular account. The sheep 

 digested one-half of the fiber and one-third of the extract matter, while 

 the coefficients obtained with the horses were noticeably less. It is 

 possible that in case of the horses, if the hulls had been fed with a dif- 

 ferent combination than hay and brewers' grains, the results would have 

 been somewhat more favorable. It has been estabUshed, however, that 

 horses are not able to utilize fibrous material as well as are the bo vines. 



The trial with oat middlings was made at this station a number of 

 years since, and has been published. ^ The sample was found in the 

 Massachusetts markets, and was of excellent quality, containing 16.1 

 per cent of protein, 2.3 per cent of fiber, and 7 per cent of fat. The re- 

 sults are given here to show how well the animal is able to digest oat 

 middhngs when substantially free from fiber. 



Table III. — Digestible Matter in 2,000 Pounds. 



(a) Sheep. 



On the basis of the digestion experiments with sheep, it will be seen 

 that oat feed contains 918 pounds of total digestible matter as against 

 1,758 for oat middlings, 691 for oat hulls, and 946 for timothy hay. 

 Placing oat feed at 100, oat middlings would have a feeding value of 91 

 per cent more, oat hulls 25 per cent less, and timothy 3 per cent more. 



On the basis of digestible organic matter, the oat feed and timothy 



1 Mass. Agr. Expt. Sta., Ann. Rept. 19, p. 114. 



