216 POULTRY CULTURE 



application of the moisture to suit the condition of the ingredients used. It de- 

 pends, first of all, upon the presence in the foodstuffs of a sufficient amount of 

 elements having cohesive properties. These are found chiefly in the finer and 

 heavier ingredients (as meal and flour) and are lacking in such foods as pure 

 bran and finely ground or cut hay. In any mixture, given a sufficient propor- 

 tion of foodstuffs having cohesive properties, the development of a cohesive 

 condition of the mixture requires that there be added to it only as much water 

 as is necessary to establish cohesion. If an excess of water be added, the 

 adhesive elements are too much diluted and so fail to hold the mass together, 

 and it becomes sloppy. If the proportion of adhesive elements is very large, 

 the mass, though containing too much water, still holds together as a soggy 

 dough. A mash that is merely sloppy is usually unpalatable and not so readily 

 eaten by poultry as a mash of better consistency ; it adheres to the feed troughs 

 and so may give as much waste as a dry mixture. A soggy, doughy mash is 

 very indigestible. 



The adhesive materials commonly used in mashes are corn meal, shorts 

 (proper), red-dog flour, low-grade flour, and ground oats. The adhesive prop- 

 erties of corn meal can be developed instantly only by scalding, wetting 

 with boiling water. They are most pronounced in corn meal of good quality. 

 The adhesive qualities of wheat and oat products may be developed quickly 

 by wetting with cold water. Hence, a mash of corn meal and bran can be 

 made of the proper consistency only by scalding or cooking, while a mash 

 composed largely of corn meal may be given the desired consistency without 

 cooking, by the addition of one of the glutinous wheat products in sufficient 

 quantity. 



When corn meal is to be scalded it is advisable to scald it separately, 

 making a stiff mush, and then stir in the other ingredients. If vegetables, 

 clover, or hay are cooked for the mash, enough water may be added to them 

 to scald the required quantity of meal ; after the vegetables are cooked, and 

 while the water is boiling, the meal should be stirred in and then the other 

 ingredients. When the mash is mixed cold,' the meals may be mixed before 

 wetting. If a scalded mash turns out too crumbly because of a poor scald, or 

 because of the addition of too much bran, the fault may be corrected by adding 

 water and flour until the desired consistency is obtained. 



Oatmeal and ground oats work better when scalded, but will work up 

 better with cold water than corn meal. When milk, either cold or scalding, 

 is used for mixing mashes, less cohesive material is needed in the mash than 

 when it is mixed with water under the same conditions. Good beef scraps 

 and animal meals have highly cohesive properties, which develop quickly by 

 scalding and more slowly when wet with cold water. Soaked overnight with 

 a sufficient amount of water they swell enormously, and a good mash may be 

 made by soaking them thus in a pail or, if a large quantity is to be used, in a 

 mixing trough or box, then mixing in the grains in the morning. If preferred, 

 they can of course be soaked all day and the mash mixed in the evening. The 

 amount of water required varies and must be determined by experiment. 



