Evening star., 1942-09-29
Of Stors, Men
And Atoms
Notebook of Science Progress
In Laboratory, Field
And Study
By Thomas r. Henri,

S 1ftOFtuS IT. ItH Y.
An enormous surplus of wheat-close
TO too.0o0o00 bushels. according to pres
en- estimates-must be turned into meat,
milk and eggs during the coming year.
mat Is the verdict of Department of
Agriculture experts, surveying the Ma
tons record crop which runs more than
looooo,0oo bushels better than last year.
This is being piled on top of an existing
surplus of about 67o00o,o00 bushels in
storage.
wheat in the past has been primarily
food for man in the form of bread.
There seems little possibility of using
much OF this vast surplus for human con-
SUMPTION in the United States. Both the
grain itself and wheat flour is too bulky
TO be shipped abroad in great quantities.
BESIDES, 1t is not highly concentrated
type OF food, such as now is required for
transportation to Great Britain.
Meanwhile, the experts of the Denart-
ment OF Agriculture say, crn is not
keeping up with demands The vast
crops OF the corn belt largely have been
consumed as stock feed. There is an
enormously increased demand for meat,
milk ana egg products This years corn
crop, although the biggest in history. is
hkely to fall 100000 900 bushels short of
the requirements.
IL comes as a shock to the average
wheat raiser that this grain, the aristo-
crat OF cereals, actually should be fed to
hogS, but the logic is clear, according to
the Department of Agriculture scientists
Pound for pound, they explain, wheat
is equal to corn in feeding value. It is
better. In most respects, than, barley or
oats. 1t contains somewhat more digesti-
Die protein than corn, little less fat
ana signify more sugars and starches
1t is definitely better than corn as a
body fuel.
None OF the grains is complete food
All are deficient in essential minerals
ana also IN the better quality proteins
which are essential for physical growth
ana development Wheat outranks most
other grains in these types of proteins
Hogs and beef cattle, experiments have
shown, use the food elements in wheat
slightly better than those in corn, but
often the best results are obtained bv
teedlng $3.50 mixture with other grains.
According to the Missouri Agricultural
Experiment Station, good quality wheat
has proved itself to be worth as much as
10 per cent more than corn, bushel for
bushel, for feeding hogs This means
that 1t requires 10 per cent less grain to
make pound of meat. One halt less
supplement- of other foods containing
protelns essential to growth is necessary
with wheat than with corn. Wheat also
produces a better finished hog and gets
MIN to market in 10 days less time, on the
average.
Experimental feelings of half wheat
IN the grain ration have given good re-
suits with dairy cows. When used in a
balanced grain ration as a substitute for
one-third to one-half the corn, wheat
Is considered equal or even superior, to
corn. Excellent egg production has been
reported from pullets kept in cages and
fed mixture containing 80 per cent of
unground wheat.
Ihe NEST important use of corn in the
past has been in pork production. This
year 2o,oO0,O00 more hogs will be raised
than last year. But the problem of teed-
ing them simply by raising more corn,
the Department of Agriculture experts
point out, is not so simple as it seems.
Land available for the most effective
corn production is limited and there are
heavy demands on it for essential war
n1aterials-such as soybeans for oil and
hemp foc rope.
On the other hand there are thousands
OF acres in the West which can produce
more feed per acre from wheat than
from any other crop Much of the land
is unsuited to produce much of anything
else. This crop requires relatively little
labor. The output can be increased
enormously by large-scale mechanical
equipment.