Feeding Stuffs. 141 



as to hardness and flavor. (926) The lowa^ and Nebraska- Sta- 

 tions used barley economically to supplement corn for hogs. (854) 

 Rain, fog, and dew at harvest time injure barley for brewing 

 purposes without necessarily lowering its feeding value. Because 

 barley meal, Avhen finely ground, forms a pasty mass in the mouth 

 of the animal, barley should be reduced by rolling, as is the com- 

 mon practice on the Pacific coast, rather than by grinding. (768) 



172. Malt. — in making malt the barley grains are first steeped 

 in Vt'arm water until they are soft. The grain is then held at a 

 warm temperature until it begins to sprout, in which process a fer- 

 ment or enzyme called "diastase" converts the starch into a form 

 of sugar called "maltose." As soon as this change has occurred 

 the sprouting grains are quickly dried. The tiny, dry, shriveled 

 sprouts separated from the grains are called "malt sprouts," and 

 the dried grains with their content of malt sugar form malt. In 

 the manufacture of beer the brewer extracts the soluble malt sugar 

 and some nitrogenous matter from the malt. The freshly ex- 

 tracted malt grains constitute wet brewers' grains, which on dry- 

 ing in a vacuum are called dried brewers' grains. 



173. Malt for stock.— Lawes and Gilbert of the Rothamsted Sta- 

 tion/' after experimenting with malt, conclude: "A given weight 

 of barley is more productive both of the milk of cows and of the 

 increase in live weight of fattening animals than the amount of 

 malt and malt sprouts that would be produced from it. . . . Irre- 

 spective of economy, malt is undoubtedly a very good food for 

 stock ; and common experience seems to show that a certain amount 

 of it is beneficial ... to young or weakly animals, or in making 

 up for exhibition or sale; that is, when the object is to produce a 

 particular result, irrespective of economy." (768) 



174. Wet brewers' grains.— Owing to their volume, their watery 

 nature, and their perishable character, wet brewers' grains are 

 usually fed near the brewery. In the hands of ignorant or greedy 

 persons, cows have often been crowded into dark, illy-ventilated 

 sheds and fed almost exclusively upon wet brewers' grains. Some- 

 times the grains have partially rotted before being fed, and the 

 drippings getting under feed boxes and floors have on ferment- 

 ing produced sickening odors. Under such circumstances it is not 

 surprising that boards of health have been led to prohibit the sale 

 of milk from such dairies. There is nothing, however, in fresh 

 brpwers' grains which is necessarily deleterious to milk. Siip- 



'Rul.91. =Bu]. P9. ' Kothamsted Memoirs, Vol. IV. 



