130 Feeds and Feeding. 



germs of tlie wlieat grain, and because of this it is rich in protein 

 and fat. Such flour has a high feeding value, especially for 

 growing pigs, hard-worked horses and milch cows. Feeders 

 should watch the markets for this brand, and may be able at 

 times to use it to much profit. 



174. Middlings and shorts. — "Middlings" and "shorts" are 

 terms used interchangeably to some extent. It has become rather 

 common of late to find shorts consisting simply of ground-over ; 

 bran, almost free from floury particles, with the sweepings and 

 dirt of the mill added. Such material is very unsatisfactory for 

 stock feeding and should be avoided. 



Middlings are especially useful for feeding pigs and horses, 

 since neither of these animals can utilize much crude fiber. For 

 horses they should be mixed with com meal, oats or other feed- 

 ing stuffs, as pure middlings are a heavy feed and liable to pro- 

 duce colic. For pigs, middlings mixed with corn meal or skim 

 nulk serve admirably in promoting growth and building healthy 

 muscular bodies. (463, 641, 854) 



175. Bran. — Wheat bran carries, as we have seen, a consider- 

 able amount of crude fiber, somewhat resembling straw in this 

 particular. It differs from straw in that the inner surface of the 

 bran flakes is made up of the aleurone layer of the wheat grain, 

 which is very rich in protein and in addition carries some starch. 

 Understanding its character and composition, we are in position to 

 make the best use of this abundant by-product in feeding farm 

 stock. "With some horsemen bran is fed only occasionally, being 

 supplied once or twice a week in the form of a "mash," made 

 by scalding with hot water, in which case it is a mild laxative 

 and very beneficial. Bran has, however, become a common feed 

 in many well-managed stables. At the Stanford horse farm, a few 

 years since, the writer found it being fed in moderate quantity 

 to horses of all ages, from weanlings to stallions and brood 

 mares. Bran is quite commonly used in feeding omnibus and cab 

 horses. (451) Hard- worked horses, which have neither the time 

 nor energy necessary to digest feeds with much bulk, should not 

 receive much bran, owing to its coarse, fibrous character. Grow- 

 ing horses, brood mares and stallions can be fed bran liberally 

 with excellent results because of the large amount of mineral 



