WHEAT THE LEADING GRAIN 



195 



time it contains materially less digestible fat than corn, and 

 slightly less nitrogen-free extract. 



Fowls fed on a pure wheat diet are subject to digestive dis- 

 turbances. When fed on a mixture of wheat, corn and oats, these 

 troubles are minimized. This mixture constitutes the bulk of 

 so-called Scratch Feeds on the majority of poultry farms in this 

 country. 



{Courtesy Kansas Experiment Station) 

 Fig. 130. — Growing stock on alfalfa pasture. 



Cost of Wheat. — Considering the high cost of wheat, it is 

 likely that too much importance has been laid upon it in respect 

 to poultry feeding. Pound for pound, the by-products of wheat — 

 bran and middlings — are more valuable than the whole grain, 

 and they are very much less expensive. True, the whole grain 

 of wheat has all the qualities — attractiveness of size, color, shape 

 and texture — ^which go to make a palatable ration for fowls, 

 and it should be used in the scratch feed by way of variety be- 



