268 



Feeds and Feeding. 



cotton states. Millions of horses and mules on American farms and 

 plantations get their strength from corn, not even knowing the taste 

 of oats. While corn does not have all of the superlative qualities of 

 oats, nevertheless because of lower cost and higher feeding value it 

 will always be extensively used in this country wherever large num- 

 bers of horses must be economically maintained. 



In all cases changes from oats or other feeds to corn should be 

 brought about very gradually. New corn may produce indigestion. 

 The dent varieties, having more iloury starch, are softer and more 

 easily masticated, tho no more nutritious than the flint varieties. 

 Ear corn is safer to feed than shelled corn, as the grain keeps best 

 on the cob, and the horse eats corn on the cob more slowly and chews 

 the grain more completely. The Paris Omnibus Company^ found it 

 advantageous to feed corn-and-cob meal, holding that the fiber of the 

 cobs made the ground material more like ground oats in fiber content 

 Burkett of the North Carolina Station- found no gain in corn-and- 

 cob meal over ear corn. When there is ample hay or other roughage 

 in the ration, it is probably best to omit the cob, especially with hard- 

 worked horses. (157) 



412. Corn v. oats. — At the Ohio Station^ Carmichael fed mixed 

 clover and timothy hay for roughage to 3 farm teams. One horse in 

 each team was given oats and the other shelled corn in a trial begin- 

 ning May 16th and lasting 48 weeks, vt^ith the results shown below : 



It is shown that the corn-fed horses ate slightly more grain and 

 less hay than those getting oats. At 40 cents per bu. for corn, 30 

 cents for oats, and $8 per ton for hay, the corn-fed horses cost $50.89 

 for 48 weeks keep, while the oat-fed horses cost $69.82. The feed 

 cost 3.3 cents per hour of work done by the corn-fed horses and 4.5 

 cents, or about 33 per ct. more, for the oat-fed horses. Carmichael 

 reports that during hot weather the corn-fed horses endured hard 



' Eec. Med. Vet., Feb. 1880; Centbl. Agr. Chem. 1881, p. 767. 

 ' Bui. 189. 

 » Bui. 195. 



