COMPARATIVE VALUE OF FEEDS. 39 



protein. Wheat is a splendid cow feed and only its high price prevents its 

 wide use. Barley may be used with advantage when not too high priced. 



The by-products from the barley grain known as malt sprouts, wet 

 brewers' grains, and dried brewers' grains are most helpful feeds with the 

 dairyman. As the table shows, malt sprouts are very rich in digestible 

 protein. Unfortunately cows do not usually like malt sprouts very well 

 and so they cannot be heavily fed. At the prices for which they are usually 

 sold they are very cheap and dairymen should use them to the extent of 

 two or three pounds per cow per day. Malt sprouts should either be soaked 

 before feeding or they may be mixed directly with silage or other wet feed. 

 Wet brewers' grains are a nutritious, milk-producing food greatly relished 

 by cows. They are a dangerous feed in the hands of ignorant or vicious 

 dairymen. They should always be fed before they have been fermented, 

 and only a reasonable allowance should be given. Fed after they have 

 fermented and given in dirty feeding boxes and in dark, foul stables, as is 

 too often the case near cities, it is no wonder that many people object to the 

 milk from cows fed wet brewers' grains. All such troubles lie in the abuse 

 and not in the legitimate use of such materials. Dried brewers' grains are 

 a very rich, nutritious food for dairy cows. They are now mostly shipped 

 across the ocean to be fed on the Continent. They should be fed nearer 

 where they are produced. Oats in and of themselves practically form a 

 balanced ration. Bran falls on the protein side of our list since it is relatively 

 low in carbohydrates and quite high in protein. Then follows middlings, 

 likewise from the wheat grain. The enormous milling interests in the 

 northwestern states give to the farmers of that region a vast output of bran 

 and middlings. The use of these feeds is now universal, and they are pro- 

 perly appreciated. Bran is healthful as well as nutritious, and with oats 

 forms one of the safest feeds at the dairyman's hands. Milk requires much 

 mineral matter in the foods producing it, and bran is rich in both phos- 

 phoric acid and potash. Middlings furnish more carbohydrates than bran. 

 Generally the farmer would better mix bran and corn rather than feed bran 

 and middlings. In many cases the latter may best be used as a pig feed. 



Buckwheat middlings are a very rich protein feed and of high feeding 

 value with cows. The miller mixes as much of the black, almost worthless 

 buckwheat hulls with the rich middlings as possible, and then sells the com- 

 bination for bran. The dairyman would better buy the higher priced mid- 

 dlings and then use corn stalks, straw from his own farm, etc., in place of 

 the low value hulls. 



There are a number of by-products from the oat-meal mills. Oat hulls 

 are sometimes sold to feed dealers, who mix them with corn meal and sell 

 the mixture for ground oats and corn, which mixture is valuable just in the 

 proportion that it contains the real grain substance. Oat dust is of low value, 

 and in other ways not desirable. Linseed oil meal is a useful food for farm 

 stock generally. This substance is not only rich in protein but it has muci- 

 laginous properties which seem particularly helpful to the digestive tract. 



