BULLETIN 266 



THE CHEMICAL COMPOSITION OF GREEN 

 SPROUTED OATS. 



J. M.' BARTLETT. 



Green sprouted oats have been widely exploited in recent 

 years as a succulent food for poultry. Indeed, there are some 

 so-styled "Poultry systems" on the market which consist of 

 little else than the use of this food. The Maine Station has been 

 using sprouted oats in its poultry studies for a number of years. 

 The method of sprouting devised by tlie Station was published 

 in a bulletin that is now out of print. But it is reprinted in 

 detail in "Poultry Management at the Maine Station." The 

 essential points are outlined below. 



The poultry investigations of this Station, for the most 

 part bear only incidentally on food studies and the average of 

 published analyses are sufficient for this purpose. In the earlier 

 work the analyses of unsprouted oats were used m computing 

 the rations, 'but as the amount of sprouted oats in the ration 

 used at the Station were considerably increased it became desir- 

 able to know more concerning the composition of sprouted as 

 compared with unsprouted oats. For this reason the studies 

 here reported were undertaken. 



THE PREPARATION OF SPROUTED OATS. 



The first experiments with this material at the Maine -Vgri- 

 cultural Experiment Station were not satisfactory. It was 

 found difficult to get the oats to make a sufficiently quick growth. 

 Experience here has indicated that in order to make a satisfac- 

 tory green food the oats must be grown very quickly. In order 

 to get quick growth it is necessary to have three things: — 

 warmth, plenty of moisture, and sunlight. 



