OATS AS GRAIN AND FODDER. II 



or stimulate him as no other of our grains do. They are con- 

 sequently held without a peer by horsemen as feed for driving 

 horses and may be made almost exclusively their diet. 



A chemist by the name of Sanson claims to have discovered a 

 stimulating principle, supposed to be an alkaloid, in the seed coats 

 of the oat grains, varying in quantity in different varieties of oats 

 and also with soil and climate in which they are grown, but later 

 careful investigations by chemists have failed to discover any 

 alkaloid, or nitrogenous compound of a stimulating nature. 

 Nevertheless the belief is so prevalent among practical feeders 

 that nothing gives so much "mettle" to the horse as oats, it seems 

 evident that they must contain something which, if not a stimu- 

 lant, acts much like one and makes oats admirably adapted by 

 their nature to this class of animals. For growing colts or dairy 

 stock there is no question but that other grains or combinations 

 such as wheat bran, middlings, linseed, gluten meals, etc., are 

 more economical at present prices, and just as efficient. 



Many experiments have been made to test the practicability of 

 using substitutes for oats as feed for horses. At Hohenheim, 

 Germany, in 1893-94 feeding experiments were conducted in 

 which beans and corn were substituted quite largely for oats, the 

 proportions being two pounds oats, three pounds field beans, 

 eight pounds corn. In Paris also the Paris Omnibus Company 

 substituted beans, corn and oil cake for a large portion of the 

 oats in the grain ration, with good results. The New Jersey 

 Experiment Station made an experiment with street car horses 

 in which dried brewers' grains were substituted for oats. The 

 horses fed the grains, performed their work and kept in as good 

 condition as those fed oats. The conclusions of the station 

 authorities were : "That dried brewers' grains, pound for pound, 

 were quite equal to oats in a ration for work horses. The results 

 of the substitution was a saving of about five cents a day for each 

 animal. 



The North Dakota Station compared wheat bran and shorts 

 with oats for feeding horses and mules at quite severe work. 

 The conclusions drawn from the experiment were: That the 

 mixture of shorts (middlings) and bran proved of equal worth 

 to oats for the working animals. 



The Maine Experiment Station in 1890-91 compared a mixture 

 consisting of twelve parts wheat middlings, seven parts gluten 



