DIGESTION EXPERIMENTS WITH CATTLE FEEDS. 



59 



Feterita or sudan durra is one of the grain sorghums which include also milo, 

 durra and kaoliang. Two digestion trials were made on another sample a number 

 of years since and reported in Bulletin 181. The present sample analyzed 89.22 

 per cent of dry matter, which contained ash 1.75, protein 14.46, fiber 1.63, nitrogen- 

 free extract 78.37, and fat 3.8 per cent. In chemical composition it resembles 

 Indian corn, except for its higher protein and lower fat percentage. The present 

 digestion coefficients are quite uniform, and conform fairly well to those secured 

 at the Texas Station. It is evident that feterita is about equal to corn in digesti- 

 bility. The results secured by us in the former trial, showing 75 per cent of dry 

 matter, 51 per cent of protein and 61 per cent of fat digested, were evidently too 

 low, although they were obtained under satisfactory experimental conditions. 



Oat Feed. 



I Not included in the average. 

 N'ote. — The average coefficients for ash, fiber, nitrogen-free extract and fat in oat feed, published in Table 

 II (e), p. 120 of Bulletin No. 200, are incorrect. The correct figures are given here. 



The value of this material as a food for farm stock was studied by us some two 

 years ago, and the results of the work have been published as Bulletin 200 of this 

 Station. Oat feed, as the term is generally understood by the trade, is a by-product 

 of oatmeal manufacture, and consists of the reground hulls plus the middlings and 

 dust from the first milling of the grain. At some mills the residue from the second 

 milling is also incorporated, but this is not the usual practice. 



An average of the analyses of four samples shows the following percentage com- 

 position in dry matter: ash 6.48, protein 6.20, fiber 29.18, nitrogen-free extract 

 55.82, and fat 2.31. It resembles ordinary English hay in composition, except that 

 it contains rather less fiber. 



Eight single digestion trials were made with the sheep on this material, four in 

 combination with hay (500 grams hay, 150 grams oat feed), and four with hay and 

 gluten feed (500 grams hay, 150 grams gluten feed, 150 grams oat feed). The 

 results of three of the trials were so much below the others in almost all respects 

 that they are not included in the average. The average of the other five shows a 

 digestibility comparable with timothy hay. 



Oat Hulls. 



