People's Pilot, Volume 4, Number 12, Rensselaer, Jasper County, 7 September 1894 — WHEAT AS ANIMAL FOOD. [ARTICLE]

WHEAT AS ANIMAL FOOD.

I«f«n—lUb «T Valae to Farmers aa4 Mock Balser*. Washington, Aug. 29.—A bulletin on wheat as animal food has been issued by the Agricultural Department. It was compiled by Dr. D. E. Salmon, chief of the animal industry bureau of the department, and is in response to inquires as to the value of wheat for growing and fattening animals, suggested by the important change in the comparative prices of wheat, corn and oats. The bulletin advocates the use of screenings and imperfeet wheat as animal food anp the placing of only the best wheat on the market A statistical table shows the near approach chemically of 26.6 pounds of wheat to the German standard ratio for growing cattle from six to twelve months of age, and the fact that 381-3 pounds of wheat comes much nearer the feeding standard for fattening cattle than does the same quantity of com. Equal parte of wheat and corn should, however, prove better for fattening animals than either of these grains alone. For growing animals corn is plainly not so suitable as is wheat. When wheat and corn are the same price, says the bulletin, it is preferable to feed wheat and sell corn. Wheat weighs 7 percent, heavier per bushel than corn; secondly, because wheal is weight for weight an equally good grain for fattening animals and better for growing. animals; and, thirdly, because there is much less value in fertilizing elements removed from the farm in corn than in wheat. Wheat should at first be fed in small quantities, and, when possible, be mixed with some other grain, and care taken to prevent any one animal from getting any more than quantity intended for it. Precautions are especially necessary when wheat is fed to horses. The best form in which to feed wheat is to ro}l or grind into a coarse meal. From Canadian experiments it appears that wheat excels corn in feeding value, while in South Dakota corn was found to exceed wheat.