278 



Feeds and Feeding. 



437. Straw. — Straw contains much fiber, and its mastication and 

 digestion by the horse calls for a large amount of energy, which ap- 

 pears as heat, thereby warming the body, tho not producing useful 

 work. Because of this, horses doing little or no work in winter and 

 having ample time for chewing and digesting their feed can often 

 be profitably wintered largely on good bright straw. Many horses 

 are fed costly hay in winter when straw, corn fodder, or corn stover 

 would prove equally satisfactory and much cheaper. In Europe 

 nearly all rations for horses contain some straw, those hardest worked 

 receiving the least. In feeding value the straws rank in the follow- 

 ing order: oat, barley, wheat, rye, the last named having but slight 

 value. (242) 



438. Corn stover and straw. — At the Michigan Station^ Norton 

 fed 2 lots, each of 6 farm work horses doing moderate work, for 10 

 weeks during winter on feeding stuffs costing as follows per ton : 



Dollars 



Shredded corn stover (husked shock-corn forage) 4 . 00 



Oat straw 5.00 



Carrots 3.00 



Timothy hay 12.00 



Ear corn 20.00 



Oats 31.00 



Wheat bran 24.00 



Dried beet pulp 18.00 



Old process linseed-oil cake 30. 00 



Dried beet pulp 4 lbs. , 



Bran lib. }- Feed mixture 21.00 



Linseed-oil cake lib. 



The following table gives the average amount of feed consumed 

 daily per horse and the cost of the same : 



In addition to hay and oats the horses of Lot I were given a light 

 feed of bran once a week. During the trial the horses in Lot I lost 

 11 lbs., and those in Lot II gained 14 lbs. 



It is shown that when fed timothy hay and oats, farm horses do- 

 ing ordinary work in winter cost about 30 cents per head daily for 



' Bui. 204. 



