The Fargo forum and daily republican. [volume] (Fargo, N.D.) 1894-1957, 1910-09-28

The following question and it's an
swer by Professor Shepperd of the
North Dakota Agricultural college, in
The North Dakota Farmer, is of par
ticular Importance this year when
there is such a shortage of roughage.
1t gives information that will be of
value to all who have live stock to
feed:
Ration for Straw or Roughage.
Will you kindly advise me through
| this months issue of The North Da-
kota Farmer the best way TO feed last
years wheat straw, as that is all the
roughage, we have available as our hay
crop was an entire failure. Have a
small quantity of this seasons wheat
and oat straw which we desire to re-
serve for spring feeding. What should
we feed with the wheat straw to make
satisfactory ration? The old wheat
straw is mostly bright except on the
outside of the stack, which is weather.
beaten.
You will confer a great favor on
many readers by giving us information
on this point. ]. H. w,
Dresden, n. d.
Answered by Prof. J. n. Shepherd.
Dat straw is considered the best of
the cereal straws for feeding live stock.
Wheat straw is very much poorer.
Wheat straw does not have the paIat-
able, digestible chaff which oat straw
carries and is considerably more woody
besides. Flax straw on the average is
as good If not better than oat straw
for feeding. The stems themselves are
very woody, but usually there is some
immature fax seed left in the straw
and frequently some ripe flax seed,
which probably accounts for it's high
rating as a feed for live stock. Imma-
ture flax that has been frosted or
hailed down and grown up a second
time should be carefully cured and
stacked for winter roughage this sea-
son. 1t makes splendid feed if used
with little precaution. Wherever a
supply of fax straw is given 10 stock,
they should be gradually accustomed
to it before being allowed all that they
will eat If there is any considerable
amount of flax seed in it. There are
always few gluttonous animals in
the herd or flock that will eat little
besides the seed If they can sort ii out
from the straw They can eat large
quantities of it if they have been
gradually accustomed to 1t, without
causing serious trouble. 1t is very
heavy and oily and on that account
is apt to cause digestive troubles IL
fed in much quantity before the ami
mails have become used to 1t.
The North Dakota station did a con-
siderable amount of work in horse
feeding a number of years ago and
made extensive trials with oat straw
as compared with hay for roughage.
In the trial / found that some horses
did about as well as they did on hay.
while others were very much harder
to carry chiefly because their appetires
for roughage were too light to cause
them to eat enough of it. Aside from
those dainty animals, had little trou-
BILE in keeping them up on oat straw
as roughage.
The oat straw that / used was that
of a normal season, which was coarser
and more woody than that which has
been obtained this year. The straw
from this years crop in this part of
the state is bright and fine stemmed,
facts which add to its feeding value
very materially.
The trial made at the college con-
sisted OF a period of sixty days feeding
with oats as the grain ration as
against similar period with oats and
hay. and sixty days feeding with a
mixture of half and half bran and
shorts by weight with hay compared
with sixty days feeding bran and
shorts with oar straw.
During the first thirty days winter
conditions were present and the horses
were used only about enough for good
exercise. During the second thirty
days they were worked at narrowing.
discing and seeding and had nearly
ali OF that work the last half Of the
month.
The horses receiving oats and hay
as q ration required nine and one third