The Forest Republican. [volume] (Tionesta, Pa.) 1869-1952, 1893-04-19
ron A T


Some interesting feeding experiments
have been made recently with horses at
the New Jersey Agricultural Experiment
Station at New Brunswick by Acting
Director James Nelson, Professor Ed
ward B. Voorhees, aud Louis A. Voor.
bees. The experiments were to compare
the results Of feeding dried brewers
grains and oats. The experiments
proved, it is said, that the brewers
grains furnish a more economical food
with equally satisfactory results.
The dried grains we're cheaper pound
for pound than the oats, aud being
richer in the valuable nutrients, pro-
teine aud fat, permitted of a material
reduction in the cost of the ration. Tho
work performed by the horses was quite
as great and their health and vigor quite
as good as when oats constituted the
nam part OF the ration.
Dried brewers grains have been for
some time used as a food for mich
cattle, Oats are not regarded as a
highly profitable crop in this State aud
are raised almost entirely for horse
feed.
Horses on the New Brunswick City
Railroad we're chosen as the subjects Of
the experiments. Eight horses were
taken. Four were fed a ration of hay,
wheat bran, corn, aud brewers grains,
while oats were substituted for the dried
grains with four others, the total weight
Of each set differing only by ten pounds.
The experiment continued for three
months. At the end of that period the
average increase IN weight Of the horses
fed with eight pounds OF brewers grains
per day was forty-five pounds per horse.
while, with a like quantity Of oats, il
was 37.5 pounds per horse.
A veterinary surgeon who carefully
watched the horses found that the horses
fed on the grains were as healthy as he
had ever known them to be. The daily
work of each horse was at least four
trips of six miles Zach.
The cost of the dried grains per ton
was SIS, while that of the oats was $50,
or the saving per day by the use of the
grains 40 cents per horse. This saving,
while appearing small, in the aggregate
means considerable. 1t applied to forty
horses, it would represent a saving OF
81. SO per day OF 500 a year,
The brewers grains are a by-product
from the manufacture of malt liquors,
and consist of the residue from the ex-
traction of the terminated grain, usually
barley, with hot water. Their value de.
ponds upon the large amount of fatty
and albuminous matter that they con-
tain. Schemes have been devised to
remove the water they contain when dis.
charged from the brewery. When thor
oughly dried they can be shipped with
out difficulty to an unlimited distance.
The plants engaged in drying the grains
aggregate in capacity at present Is, 600
tons a year, and more are in process of
construction with u claimed capacity Of
30, 600 tons. Plants now in use are also
to be enlarged.
The value of the fertilizer constituents
contained in the feeds is also to be re-
garded. According to the experiments
a ton of oats sold from a farm
carried away on au average Of 81
pounds of nitrogen, Is pounds of phos-
phoric acid, and IL pounds of potash.
A ton of dried brewers grains would
bring to the farm n pounds of nitrogen,
10 pounds of phosphoric acid and 2
pounds of potash, a gain to the farm of
40 pounds of nitrogen and 4 of phos-
phoric acid, aud a loss of 10 pounds of
potash. The net gain, however, would
be 1913, on the basis of their ~fertIliz-
ing values.
That the brewers grains are a whole
some, nutritious and palatable horse
feed, and may be substituted for oats
with a decided saving in the cost Of the
ration, is proved according to the ex-
periments. The substitute is to receive
a further trial by New Jersey farmers
New York Times.