DIGESTION EXPERIMENTS WITH CATTLE FEEDS. 



55 



Experience has proved that gluten feed is a satisfactory supplement to hay for 

 use in basal rations. The necessitj^ for such a supplement is greatest when the 

 material under test is deficient in protein or is of a coarse, fibrous, unpalatable 

 nature. 



Gluien Feed. 



1 Not included in the average. 



The average composition and limits of variation of the two lots of gluten feed 

 used in these experiments were as follows: dry matter 90 per cent (87.80-91.22), 

 made up of ash 3.35 (2.52-4.74), protein 27.56 (24.53-29.50), fiber 6.83 (6.31-7.31), 

 nitrogen-free extract 59.16 (56.44-62.52), fat 3.11 (2.08-4.31). The digestion co- 

 efficients for gluten feed were secured by applying the coefficients obtained for 

 hay to the amount of hay fed, and deducting the product from the total digestible 

 matter of the basal ration. 



The negative results for ash in a majority of the trials are almost always noticed 

 in work with gluten feed. No satisfactory explanation for such results can be 

 given although they may be attributed in part to experimental error due to the 

 small amount of ash present, and in part to the excretion of digested mineral matter 

 from the intestines. In the case of fiber, it will be noticed that occasionally the 

 coefficients were above 100 per cent, due probably to improvement in digestibility 

 of the fiber in the hay as the result of adding a protein concentrate. 



Incidentally it may be remarked that as a result of five separate trials with corn 

 bran, the fiber was found to have an average digestibiUty of 75.12 per cent. This, 

 together with the results secured for the fiber in gluten feed, shows that the fiber 

 in corn is quite well utilized. 



The present data, as well as those obtained as a result of many previous trials, 

 show gluten feed to be a highly digestible protein concentrate. 



