St. Landry democrat., 1885-01-24
BOILED GRAINS.
It Pays Big Interest to Cook Food for
Poultry

J
the grain intended for the fowls they
wish to fatten. They boil it till the
farina swelIs and softens, so as to burst
the enveloping membrane. 1t is the
general opinion that burst grain is bet
ter than dry for fattening poultry, and
whether this is founded upon accurate
experiment or not it is of Importance to-
ascertain the difference of expense be-
tween the two, and whether more or
less is eaten of the one than of the 9TH
err. To discover this M. Reaumur caused
four pint measures of each of the six
common sorts of grain to be boiled tilf
they were well burst, and he found the
increase of bulk in each sort was the
following:
Measures.
Four pint measures of oats, after being
boiled to bursting, filled.
Four pint measures of barley, after being
boiled to bursting, filed. ...................1G
Four pint measures of buckwheat, after be-
ing boiled to bursting, filled. rs
-Four pint measures of maize, after being
boiled to bursting, filled above. :...... ..-IS
Four pint measures of wheat, after being
boiled to bursting, filled a little more thanlO
Four pint measures OF rye, after being,
Rice swells considerably more by boiling
than any of these six sorts, but it is
seldom given to poultry, except for fat
tening, under the notion that it tends
to Whiten the flesh. To ascertain whether
the boiling altered the liking of fowls
for any of the particular sorts, exper-
iments varied in every possible way,
similar to those already detailed, We're
made by M. Reaumur. The fowls were
furnished with two, three, four, five and
six different sorts; sometimes all the
kinds were devoured alike, and at
others nothing but dry grain, and q
third nothing but boiled. All that could
be collected from these experiments
was that the greater number of fowls
prefer boiled grain to raw, though
there are many of them that show a!
preference to the dry grain on certain
days, aud no permanency could be dis
covered in the preference shown for
any sort of burst grain. Some FOWLS
for example, which one day preferred
boiled wheat, would on other days make
choice of buckWheat, or maize, or bar
ley, and sometimes, though more
seldom, even in rye; but rye, seither
boiled or raw, is the least fayorite sort
of grain It follows as an important
conclusion from such experiments, that
we may make choice of the sort of grain
which happens to be the cheapest,
without much, if any disadvantage;
always excepting rye, when other sorts
are to be had on reasonable terms.
Other experiments were required to
show whether there is any economy, OF
the contrary, in feeding poultry with
boiled grain, and this was readily ascer-
tanned from knowing first how much
dry grain sufficed for one or more fowls,
and then boiling the same quantity and
trying how much of that would in like
manner be sufficient. The ex-
periments made with the different sorts
of grain were as follows:
Rye, although SO very considerably
increased in bulk by boiling, instead of
being more filing becomes less so, and
more OF it is eaten when boiled than
when raw Oats, although increased
in bulk nearly one-half by boiling, are
not on this account rendered more suf-
ticing for the fowls, which in two days
consume four pint measures of dry oats,
and in the same period eat seven pints Of
them when boiled, so that there appears
to be no economy in the additional
trouble. Mowbray says that oats have
a securing tendency, although they are
recommended as promotive OF laying,
and in the South of England are much
used for fattening. Buckwheat sWells
still more than oats by boiling, but
fowls viii consume fourteen pints
boiled in the same space of time that
four dry ones would be sufficient.
Mowbray pronounces it an unsubstan-
tial food. Maize Tor corn is said to be
more profitable boiled than raw. When
kept long upon it they begin to dislike
it, and it is perhaps on this account
that less of boiled maize is consumed.
The saving is supposed to be one-third
or one-fith.
Fowls, which would have eaten two
pints Of dry barley a day, ate but two
pint measures of the boiled grain.
Therefore, as pint measures Of boiled
barley are produced from four pints of
dry, three pints of the boiled are equiya-
lent to no more than six-fifths of a pint
of the dry, consequently the experiences
in dry barley is to that of boiled as ten
tifths to six-tifths, that is, as ten to six,
or as FIVE to three, showing a saving of
two-ffths by giving boiled instead of
dry barley. We have found by expert
ence that barley is more profitable and
effective when boiled than when raw.
Il given warm, but not hot we have
known it to hasten, materially, the
period of laying, and to promote in q
high degree the health and comfort OF
the hens.
Wheat, as shown in the preceding
table, increases in bulk by boiling, near