Evening times-Republican. [volume] (Marshalltown, Iowa) 1890-1923, 1907-07-11
(W. ]. Kennedy, OF the Iowa Sta
C,otlnya of Aprirllture

The ACCESSIBILITY of soaking. steam
ing, cooking and fermenting feed stuns
for stock has been very carefully test
ed by the different experiment sta
lions and practical feeders In various
countries. Half century ago ex-
travagant claims were made. COM
mending the use OF these methods OF
preparing feed for livestock Recent
investiga tons have shown the very
opposite to be the case in most in
stances.
Any BENEFITS which may be derived
from such methods Of preparation
must come from two sources: their in
fuence on the digestiblity OF the feed
stun. or the palatability OF the same.
Practical and scientific tests have
proven conclusively that no one OF the
above mentioned methods can have
any direct favorable influence on any
feed stun from digestive standpoint.
They may indirectly be beneficial by
making the food more easily masticat-
ed. thus more thoroughly digested. The
cooking Of pigeon grass seed. which
has hard, woody covering, furnishes
such an example. That some OF the
above methods, when applied to GER
tain classes OF feed stuffs. may in
crease the palatability OF the same so
that the animal will consume 1t with
more relish, cannot be questioned. The
cooking of potatoes or roots for swine
furnishes such an example As these
methods are applied to different kinds
Of feed stuffs and for different classes
OF animals, 1t will be best to treat each
one separately.
Soaking Feed Soaking feed is Oft
entimes practiced for cattle and swine
feeding purposes. 1t is not done with
digestibility of the same, but rather
with the view Of making 1t more easily
masticated. Hard corn in the spring
and summer months should be soaked
for cattle or swine feeding purposes. II
fed without grinding or soaking. 1t
may cause sore mouths, due to Its
hard and flinty nature. Cattle with
sore mouths will not eat enough to
make good gains; In some instances
the trouble may be such as to cause
them to shrink in weight. Expert
ments conducted by Wolf in feeding
soaked beans and corn in comparison
with dry beans and corn to healthy
horses, showed no advantage from the
soaking. In the case Of old horses, or
young horses at teething time, the
soaking of corn to soften the same
might accomplish good results.
At the Kansas experiment station in
a cattle feeding experiment where dry
corn. was fed in comparison with
soaked corn. the soaking Of the corn
saved about is per cent of the corn.
The hogs following the dry corn lot
made the better gains and required less
extra corn for given amount of in
crease in weight. Combining the re-
suits Of the cattle and the hogs, it was
found that there was a saving Of about
per cent obtained by soaking the corn
fed.
In feeding dairy cows many good
dairymen chop their hay and straw,
grind their feed, and moisten the sam.
and mix all together. This is done
for the sole purpose of making the RAJ
ton more palatable. There seems to
be but one experiment reported where
dry feed was fed in comparison with
soaked feed to sheep This work was
done by Mueller, the grain used being
corn. The lots Of ten sheep In each lot
were used in the test. One was fed
IA lbs Of corn per head per day, the
grain being fed dry; the other lot re-
ceived the same amount, which was
soaked so as to contain as much water
as it would absorb before being fed.
At the end of fourteen weeks feeding
the lot receiving the dry corn had
gained 12.1 lbs more per head than the
lot which had been fed on soaked corn.
The experimenter explains the poorer
utilization of the soaked corn by the
decreased secretion of the saliva when
grain SO treated was fed.
Experiments conducted by the diff
ferent experiment stations in feeding
drv feed versus soaked feed to swine
all indicate some benefit from soaking
the feed. An average Of all the trials
would indicate saving of about Z
per cent by soaking the feed.
Steam Feeding. Several years ago
there could be found in many sections
OF the country establishments for the
steaming of forage for cattle and 9TH
err classe of stock. The fact that none
OF them remain is good proof that
they we're not considered to be of much
benefit Tests along this line have
shown that the steaming of hay has
lowered It's per cent of digestible pro-
tein very materially When the hay
was dry fed, As per cent OF the protein
was disestible. but when fed after be-
ing steamed but 80 per cent Of the pro-