838 MANUAL OF OATTLE-FEEDIKa 



Bran,— Bran has a liigli value for fodder, as is sliown 

 botli by chemical analysis and microscopical examination ; 

 the latter, indeed, shows most strikingly how uneconomical 

 is usually an extended use of grain for the food of those 

 animals which do not, like the horse, demand a concen- 

 trated fodder. With cattle, particularly, it is more advan- 

 tageous, as a rule, to feed the bran than the grain or meal ; 

 the raising of calves and the last stages of fattening form 

 a partial exception to this rule. 



If we investigate microscopically the way in which the 

 several nutrients are distributed in the seeds of the cereals, 

 we find that by far the larger part of the nitrogenous com- 

 pounds is denosited in one or more definite layers of colls 

 lying directl^ under the seed-vessel '^' and filled with fine 

 grains of gluten. Wheat, rye, oats, and maize, have only 

 one layer of protein-bearing cells, except in the neighbor- 

 hood of the germ, while barley has three such layers under 

 the seed-vesseh 



In the manufacture of flour, the inner and starchy part 

 of the grain is more easily pulverized during the process 

 of grinding than the tough integuments. The latter are 

 torn off, carrying with them portions of the layer of 

 protein-bearing cells lying next to them, and are removed 

 by bolting, constituting bran or middlings. As a conse- 

 quence, the bran is richer in protein and the floxu' poorer, 

 than the whole grain. Thus, the average composition of 

 American wheat, wheat flour, and bran, in the water-free 

 state, is as follows : 



* "The grains are properly fruits. Wheat and maize consist of tho 

 seed and seed-vessel closely united. Barley-grain, in addition to the 

 seed-vessel, has the petals o£ the flower or inner chaff, and oats have, 

 besides these, the calyx or outer chaff adhering to the seed."-- (" How 

 Crops Grow.") 



