166 PRINCIPLES OF FEEDING FARM ANIMALS 



kept 28 per cent more economically on a ration of corn and 

 mixed hay than on a ration of oats and mixed hay. How- 

 ever, at the Kansas Experiment Station/ McCampbell 

 found that oats were better than corn when fed with either 

 timothy or prairie hay. When fed \vith alfalfa hay, corn 

 gave as good results and was one-third cheaper than a 

 ration of oats and prairie hay. Also actual practice seems 

 to show that, in the case of mature working horses, corn 

 may be fed in large amounts for extended periods of time 

 with practically as good results as when oats comprise the 

 grain ration. This is of considerable practical importance 

 as, at ordinary prices, corn makes a much cheaper ration than 

 oats. 



Soft corn is corn which has been killed by frost while the 

 grain is still immature. Consequently it contains too 

 much moisture for storage or shipment. It may contain 

 as much as 30 or 40 per cent water. The only use for soft 

 corn is to feed it as soon as possible to cattle, hogs, or sheep. 

 It is not a safe feed to use for horses, and considerable care 

 should be exercised in getting the other farm animals upon 

 a full feed of soft corn. In an experiment with fattening 

 steers by Kennedy, Dinsmore, Rutherford, and Smith at 

 the Iowa Station,^ it was found that soft corn was equal to 

 sound corn in feeding value, pound for pound of dry sub- 

 stance. In feeding soft corn better results will be obtained 

 by feeding three or four times a day as an animal cannot 

 eat enough dry substance to obtain the best results if fed 

 only twice a day. 



Wheat. — Wheat generally is considered too valuable as 

 a human food to be of particular importance as a stock 



1 Bui. 186. « Bui. 75, 



