OATS ON THE FARM.

Ashburton Guardian, Volume XXXVI, Issue 8463, 31 May 1916, Page 8

OATS ON THE FARM.

"Hickory," in. the "Australasian,", writes:—" Mr John Kerr, of Yering, who milks about 200 cows, and raises their calves, is .firmly of opinion that there is nothing grown which suite stock of all kinds as well as pats. Horse-breeders and owners know that . there is no other grain so safe for horse-feeding, as the large volume to any given weight prevents any risk from overfeeding. Horses, too, most certainly work better when supplied with oats in conjunction with other feed. In my own experience, when oats were scarce, and crushecj wheat was fed 'to horses instead, the result was small pimples on the skin, which resulted in, sore., shoulders. In carting to the Wood's 'Point diggings, .many_years ago, Mr Kerr had the same experience when using maize instead of oats.; During the recent drought many sheepowners.found the. valu&;.of oats as a maintenance feed ; and there, is ©very likelihood of the practice being kept up during ordinary seasons, especially for the breeding ,ewes. • In this way farms can be better stocked,,. and with a large reserve of bats there is less danger of loss from overstocking. Though most horse-owners ■■ feedcrushed _ oats with chaff, many hold that it is better, if the horses have good teeth and are given plenty ,'o,f time for feeding, to supply the grain whole, and separately. There is rea-: son for thinking that this holds good: with most animals."

As a result of trials it appears that the value of feeding purposes of straw of spring cereals is higher than that of tne straw of winter cereals. The English Journal of the Board of Agriculture reports in detail an account of the experiments, and closes the report with, the following note:—"The influence of the weather on the composition appears to be relatively small, or. ; at least, not so great as with meadow hay and clover hay. The digestibility of the spring straws does not seem to differ materially from that of the winter straws; both seem to have n higher value than, the straw of rape and rape seed, and a valur\ about equal to that of the straw of the leguminous crops."