The silver messenger. (Challis, Idaho) 1890-1912, 1902-03-11
Feeding wheat.

Press Bulletin rs, Oklahoma expert
ment station: Feeding wheat to farm
animals is not a novelty to the farm
ers who passed through the years oil
'93, '94 and '95 in this country, as many
thousand bushels were fed during that
time Due to a very severe uroutn
which has caused almost total TAIL
ure of corn the farmer now has the
choice of feeding wheat; of which he
fortunately has plenty; or letting his
stock go without grain At 81 cents
per bushel, wheat is by FAR the cheap
est grain within his reach, and if the
price of fat stock is maintained it can
be fed with profit if the proper meth
DDS are followed. The feeder has the
advantage of the experience gained
from '93 and "a and any one moi
familiar with them should get them as
they have been widely published in
reports and papers.
The value of wheat for hog food has
been demonstrated by practical feeders
and the experiment stations. PounG
for pound it is equal or slightly SUI
perior to corn when properly fed. A
bushel Of wheat will produce from u
to 15 pounds of pork when fed to
thrifty shoats. Grinding at five cents
per bushel pays well, since, when fed
whole and dry, about one-fourth passes
through the hog undigested Soaking
does not lessen this materially, al
though the results are some better
Feeding sheaf wheat to fattening hogs
has not proven economical, but with
pigs and stock hogs on a light grain
feed it is practiced with good results.
Little definite information is on rec
ord in feeding wheat to cattle although
hundreds have been so fed with good
results. In the few experiments at ex-
pertinent stations in this liue, wheat
has been. fed mixed with other grain.
When fed this way it has given re-
suits fully equal to corn. At the Ohio
wheat meal and bran required 81
pounds of grain to produce a pound of
gain. At the Kansas station twelve
steers fed on wheat meal for 90 days
required 5.72 pounds of grain for each
pound of gain. This is 1915 pounds of
beef from a bushel of wheat. The SO
days were the first part of the feeding
period When the grain fed was limit
ed in amount the steers ate it well
without getting off feed. A thousand
pound steer should not be fed over l6
to 10 pounds of wheat meal per day,
as wheat will surfeit steer more read
lily than corn meal. Ground IL the
only condition in which to feed wheat
to cattle, and better results viii be
obtained with this if it can be mixed
with bran or cotton seed meal. Wheat
meal makes good feed for dairy cat
tie, but should be fed with alfalfa,
bran, cotton seed or cotton seed meal,
for the best results. With sheep wheat
feeding has been very successful, as
the grain gives the best results when
fed whole and dry, and the cost of
preparation is saved. At the Michi-
gan experiment station wheat fed to
lambs returned 100 pounds of gain for
each 553 pounds of grain fed.
Opinions differ much on the merits
of wheat as a horse feed. Due to i'm
proper methods of feeding, many poor
results have followed, but this should
not detract from it's worth for this pur-
pose. Whole dry wheat cannot be fed
to horses with good results, especially
to work or driving horses. Soaking 1t
improves it some, but grinding is by
far the best method of preparing it for
horses. but If it is fed as an exclusive