328 MAINE AGRICULTURAL EXPERIMENT STATION. I9IO. 



Oats and India wheat are desirable grains and may be used 

 to some extent to give variety to the ration, but are much more 

 expensive feeds than corn unless one is in a section of the coun- 

 try where they can be bought or produced much more cheaply 

 than at the commercial centers. 



The dry mash mixtures Nos. i and 2 have about the same 

 digestibility and feeding value. Mixture No. 3 made up wholly 

 of vegetable matter was not so well relished by the birds and 

 gave slightly lower coefficients of digestibility, but the addition 

 of about 7 per cent, of bone ash to the mixture increased the 

 average digestion coefficient obtained with it but the differences 

 were not greater than often occur between different birds on 

 the same ration, so no definite conclusions can be drawn from 

 the results. 



Summary. 



1. Corn shows a higher digestibility than any other grain 

 tested. 



2. Wheat bran shows a low digestibility and at present 

 prices is not an economical feed. 



3. A mixture of equal parts early, fine cut clover and corn 

 meal is more digestible and a more economical feed than bran. 



4. India wheat compares favorably with oats as a grain for 

 fowls. 



5. The ether extract of wheat has a low digestible coeffi- 

 cient. 



6. Crude fiber was but very sHghtly digested and evidently " 

 is of but little use in a ration for poultry except to give bulki- 

 ness. 



7. The mixing of about 7 per cent of bone ash with a 

 ration consisting wholly of vegetable matter gave slightly higher 

 average digestion coefficients than when the mixture was fed 

 without it. 



