134 THE dairyman's MANUAL. 



tlie dairymen who have used them in an improper man- 

 ner. Tliese moist and highly nitrogenous substances 

 soon ferment and putrefy, and when putrefactive decom- 

 position begins, the odor exhaled is exceedingly sti'ong 

 and offensive, chiefly on account of the sulphur com- 

 pounds formed. If these foods are used in this condition 

 in a dairy, this odor would almost certainly affect the 

 milk, and would be found concentrated in condensed 

 milk and in butter. But if used in a fresh and sweet 

 condition, there is no reason whatever for objection 

 to them. They are then wholesome, nutritious, clean, 

 easily digested, and are usually cheap, and the milk 

 produced from them is of the very best quality. It is 

 not the use of these foods but the abuse of them which 

 is objectionable. Hence, no dairyman need hesitate to 

 use any of these foods if care is taken to keep them 

 sweet. They may be preserved in a silo perfectly well 

 during the winter, and for a short time in casks or tight 

 boxes, if well rammed down. 



Malt Sprouts are the roots and sprouts of barley 

 germinated in the process of malting. The nitrogen is 

 in the form of albumen and gluten, and the carbo- 

 hydrates consist chiefly of sugar. They are seen to be 

 exceedingly rich in albuminoids, and hence are a very 

 valuable food for the production of milk. We have fed 

 tons of them to cows kept for milk alone, but do not 

 favor them for use in a butter dairy. The milk made 

 from them has a rich sweet taste, and the sugar in it is 

 in excess of the average. Hence it is apt to sour quickly, 

 unless very carefully cooled and kept. The market price 

 of them is much less than the actual feeding value. We 

 have bought them for 18 per ton, while the estimated 

 feednig value is $26.50. The practice while feeding 

 them in the author's dairy was to steep them in water 

 for twelve hours and pour the thick slop thus made upon 

 the cut hay, and then mix the ration of meal with the 



