1922.] Notes on Feeding Stuffs foe November. 757 



and other foods for winter feeding. Notes have already 

 appeared in a previous issue of this Journal (September, 1922, 

 p. 562) on the use and method of feeding potatoes to stock. 

 Several farmers have inquired about the chief points to con- 

 sider in feeding grain crops, such as wheat, rye and barley. 

 All farmers are sufficiently familiar with the value and use 

 of oats to warrant not dealing with them in these notes, but 

 it is evident that barley, rye and wheat are somewhat un- 

 familiar feeding stuffs from a stock feeder's standpoint. One 

 of the first points to note about grain crops is the fact that they 

 are all somewhat starchy foods, deficient in digestible protein. 

 The nutritive ratio of barley is 1 : 10, and that of rye and 

 wheat 1:7. Most farm rations for stock vary from 1 : 4 to 1 : 6, 

 1 : 6 being the most common ratio. It becomes necessary 

 therefore, in feeding barley, rye or wheat to give in addition 

 some nitrogenous supplement, such as fish or meat meal, 

 earthnut cake or decorticated cotton cake. 



A possible alternative method of supplying this protein de- 

 ficiency is to feed legume hay, such as tare or oat hay, or 

 clover hay as the bulky part of the ration. 



One of the chief difficulties met with in feeding grain crops 

 is to know how best to use them. Wheat is generally so hard 

 that digestive troubles will occur unless it is cracked or broken. 

 On the other hand, if it is too finely ground, the meal forms a 

 pasty mass in the mouth and the stock find it almost a physical 

 impossibility to eat it. Wheat should always therefore be fed 

 in a cracked or broken state and should preferably first be 

 soaked. 



For pig feeding, barley, wheat and rye are best fed in the 

 form of a coarse meal, soaked at least 12 hours before feeding. 



For horses, both wheat and barley can be used in part re- 

 placement of oats. Barley may be fed whole, but wheat should 

 be cracked. Eye can also be used for horses, and should be 

 well soaked before feeding. The writer is aware of a farmer 

 whose usual practice is to feed rye alone, well soaked, and his 

 horses are kept in very good condition. Clover and vetch hay 

 form the bulky part of the ration and the horses are fed on 

 green vetches without any concentrated food throughout the 

 summer. 



With cows and bullocks, wheat and barley may form from 

 one-third to one-half of the concentrated feeding stuffs given 

 in the ration. The recommendations given above for horses 

 apply equally to milch cows. 



