46 FEEDING VALUE OF CEREALS. 



which, although high in carbohydrate and in intrinsic food value, 

 yet, because of their high protein, possess an average nutritive 

 ratio and are muscle producing rather than heat producing. On 

 this account wheat has been considered the standard feeding grain 

 where fattening was not the sole object. 



When compared with each other and judged by then- production 

 values the three members of this group will rank wheat, rye, and 

 barley, the wheat and rye being practically identical in their pro- 

 duction value, though the nutritive ratio is narrower and the pro- 

 tein higher in the wheat. These two grains, therefore, are more 

 nearly alike in their composition and value than any other two 

 cereals. 



In the case of barley there is a greater difference, due primarily to 

 a considerably lower protein content. This, together with a higher 

 crude fiber, makes the production value lower and the nutritive ratio 

 broader than either of the other two members of this group. Four 

 samples of barley had a protein content higher than the average for 

 wheat, but no barley equaled the wheat average in production value. 

 The effort, however, in this country to grow and breed barleys for 

 high-protein content will probably result in raising the average in 

 this respect and in producing feeding barleys that are more nearly 

 equal to wheat in value. 



MAIZE GROUP. 



In the last group of cereals the maize group are found grains 

 more distinctly different from the other two groups than these are 

 from each other. While the other two groups are similar in being 

 high-protein, energy-producing foods, the maize-group cereals are 

 low in protein. Maize, the typical cereal of the group, is character- 

 istically a high carbohydrate, fat or heat producing food, and because 

 of its relatively low protein possesses a very broad nutritive ratio. 

 The intrinsic food value is higher than that of any of the other cereals. 

 Taken as a group, however, the two distinguishing characteristics 

 are low-protein content and broad nutritive ratio. 



The two less common cereals, proso and nonsaccharine sorghum, 

 plainly belong to the maize group when judged by these two stand- 

 ards. In production value both the proso and the sorghum are lower 

 than wheat and rye, and in crude fiber proso is more like the oat 

 group, yet the protein in both is very low and the nutritive ratio 

 much broader than any other cereal except maize. In fat content 

 proso and sorghum are higher than all others except oats and maize. 

 Proso differs from maize and sorghum principally in the amount of 

 crude fiber, which necessarily lowers the amount of digestible carbo- 

 hydrate. The nutritive ratio, however, is broader than that of 

 sorghum. 



