OAT STRAW 207 



the cereal foods. Long cooking is necessary to make 

 digestible all the protein it contains. 



250. Oat Straw. The only by-product resulting from 

 the production of oat grain is oat straw, which is largely used 

 for feeding to stock as roughage. Oat straw is higher in 

 feeding value and is more readily eaten by stock than the 

 straw from any other grain. It is practically equal to corn 

 stover (corn stalks with the ears removed) for feeding. It is 

 too bulky for feeding to fattening animals or those at hard 

 work, except as a small part of the ration, but as a main- 

 tenance ration to " winter over" stock, it is excellent when 

 fed with a little good hay or some grain. Straw which is not 

 utilized for feed is commonly used as bedding for animals, 

 a purpose to which it is well adapted, for it absorbs liquids 

 readily and soon decays in the manure. As it is less harsh 

 than the straw of other grains and is free from beards, it is to 

 be preferred for this purpose. The fertilizing value of a ton 

 of straw at present prices is about $3 a ton, so that no one 

 can afford to burn it. Where it is not possible to utilize the 

 straw either as feed or bedding, it will usually pay to spread 

 it on the land and plow it under to add vegetable matter to 

 the soil. 



251. By-Products of Milling. The by-products of the 

 oat milling industry are not very important, since they con- 

 stitute only a small part of the grain by-products. Quite 

 frequently the oat hulls, light oats, and oat dust are ground 

 with corn and sold as corn-and-oat feeds. These feeds are 

 decidedly variable in their character, depending very largely 

 on the proportion of oat hulls they contain, and should be 

 carefully examined before a purchase is made. Ground corn 

 and oats make an excellent feed but it should not contain an 

 unusually large percentage of oat hulls, showing the addition 

 of this refuse to the whole grain. 



