COMMERCIAL FEEDING-STUFFS 251 



fiber and less starch than the original grain, its value 

 being proportionately less. 



341. Hominy feed. — ^Hominy is made from corn and 

 consists of the hard portions of the kernel, leaving as a 

 residue the hull, germ, and part of the starch cells, which 

 collectively are sold as hominy feed or chop. This differs 

 from the whole kernel but little in composition and is 

 practically as digestible. 



342. Brewers' grains; maltsprouts. — Sugar m some 

 form is at present essential to the production of alcoholic 

 beverages, a cheap supply of which is obtained by con- 

 verting the starch of certain cereal grains into maltose, 

 which afterward passes into fermentable sugars. This 

 result is accomplished by placing barley and other grains 

 imder such conditions of moisture and temperature that 

 they germinate. We have already seen that during ger- 

 mination the starch of a seed is converted into maltose 

 through the action of a diastatic ferment (see Par. 94), 

 and the maltster arrests this germination at a point 

 which gives the maximum quantity of sugar. The malted 

 grains are subsequently dried and the sprouts after 

 removal appear in our markets in an air-dry condition, 

 constituting one of our valuable nitrogenous feeding- 

 stuffs. The malted grains are then crushed, the sugar is 

 extracted from them, and the residue is known in com- 

 merce as brewers' grains, a by-product feeding-stuff fairly 

 rich in protein. The high proportion of protein is due to 

 the fact that the starch has been largely removed, 

 leaving the other constituents behind in a more concen- 

 trated form. These grains are mostly dried and may 

 then be shipped to distant markets in a perfectly soimd 

 and healthful condition. 



