THE CONCENTRATES 



167 



The hulls serve a similar purpose as corn cobs in grinding the 

 grain, making the meal lighter and more easily digested. Oats 

 are generally fed whole, however, except in the case of old or very 

 young animals that cannot masticate their feed thoroughly. Ground 

 or rolled oats are to be preferred for feeding such animals. The 

 favorable effect of oats on horses has long been known, and it has 

 been held that no other grain or feed is equal, to oats for them. 

 It has been stated by various scientists that oats contain a special 

 stimulating principle not found in other grains, but the matter has 

 not yet been fully settled. In 1883 Sanson, a French chemist, 

 claimed to have discovered a characteristic nitrogenous alkaloid 

 in oats called " avenin," having a stimulating effect on the motor 

 nerves of the horse, but subsequent investigators have been 

 unable to verify the presence of such a compound. The careful 

 and exhaustive studies by Osborne have shown that the proteins 

 of the oat kernels are made up of glutenin (about 11 per cent) 

 and a small amount of a globulin called avenalin (1.5 per cent). 

 It is very likely that the digestive ferments found in oats are 

 of importance in the digestion of this grain. The mechanical 

 effect of oats in inciting a free flow of digestive juices may also be a 

 factor in bringing about the favorable results which oats doubtless 

 produce in the feeding of horses. 



New oats must be fed with care to horses, as they have a decided 

 loosening effect on the bowels. The change in this respect that takes 

 place in oats in storage also, in all probability, comes as a result of 

 the action of the oat enzymes on some of the constituents of the oats. 4 



Digestibility of Oats. — The following summary of digestion 

 coefficients shows the extent to which the different classes of farm 

 animals can digest oats : 



* Organic matter. 



Horses are evidently able to digest the dry matter of oats, as 

 well as the protein and nitrogen-free extract, better than do rumi- 



4 Farmers' Bulletin 420. 



