Green-Mountain freeman. [volume] (Montpelier, Vt.) 1844-1884, 1860-01-12
The Use of the Straw and Stalk Gutter.


Nothing is more palpabe, as a general
rule, than that at least one-half the value of
the forage crop is wasted every winter,
through the unwillingness of feeders to adopt
some reasonable measure of economy.
Among the most important fodder crops to
the farmer are the corn stalks that remain
after husking has been completed. But these
are very seldom used so that their full benefit
is received. On the contrary, the general
practice is to throw them out in whole
bundles, either in managers or in racks, and
frequently on the ground, where, after the
green and soft tops are picked off by the
stock, the larger portion Of the stalks are left
to be trodden down and made into manure, if
they can be. Even for this purpose, this
kind of fodder is in the worst possible state
when left long, and is the cause Of more
breakages of tools, and Of more impatience
and delay in getting out manure, than can be
repaid by its benefits as fertilser From
the experience We have had, and from what
we know from those who have tried it, we
feel pretty certain that the cutting of stalks,
short, so that they can be mixed with shorts,
or readily shovelled into close managers, where
they can be sprinkled with salt or brine,
renders them fully twice as valuable as they
were in the long state. Besides they can be
all used, whereas in the long state, it is safe
to say that not over two.ffths is consumed
by the stock.
Where the growth Of corn has been heavy,
and the stalks have been rank, the fodder
secured will not have been less than at the
rate Of ton to the acre. The whole crop,
if fed long, will have been exhausted in
ordinary seasons before the first Of January,
and the barn-yard will be Uttered with lot
of stuff that can neither be shovelled nor
forked, nor during the cold winter months can
it even be rotted so that it may be handled
with ease when it is time to draw it out in
the spring. Now, if we suppose that there
are ten or twenty tons of this stuff fed out in
this way, and, on the other hand, the same
were passed through cutting machine, and
fed out with care, is there any practical farm
er that would not say that the cut fodder was
not worth double. either as feed or manure,
to that which was uncut Hence it will
readily be seen that good cutting machine
will readily pay for itself, on any farm where
corn is raised, and we need not say that the
same will apply to straw and hay. All the
experiments yet made in the feeding Of horses
and cattle, seem to point out, that wherever
a great saving is made in the cost of feeding
it has been done by using some kind of cut
ting machine. We have seen enough within
the past six weeks to satisfy us that the loss
which occurs from attempting to feed out corn
stalks without cutting is not at all over-esti-
mated when set do En at onehalf their value.
At this rate, a farmer who has on hand, at
the beginning of winter twenty tons Of corn
stalks, then estimated as worth 81 or So per
ton, in real practice feeds out but one'half
that amount, the other half being made into
manure of the least valuable kind.
One of the properties of the corn stalk
when cut is its power Of absorption, and of
holding the most valuable portions of the
liquid manure of the barnyard. In the uncut
state this property is very slight. Every one
knows that heap of well-composted manure,
made from cut fodder of any kind, is looked
upon as a valuable acquisition. There is
little trouble in handling 1t, in hauling it out,
or in pioughing it in Besides, when such
manure thus handled and ploughc under,
it is known that some additional value has
been added to the productive process of the
land, and that quick return will be made of
what is called long manure, when it is taken
out in the spring-instead of holding large
proportion of liquid with which it has been
saturated all the season, it has permitted
nearly the whole to be drawn off, The stalks
are not full of valuable salts, in a fit state to
promote the growth of the young crops, or to
aid in maturing those full grown. 1t is
nothing but discoored straw, or long corn
stalks, as tough and more difficult to manage
and handle than when taken from the stack,
and but little fitted to aid in bringing a
money return to the pocket of the farmer,
CIDER-MAKING WITHOUT PREssING,-It is
stated that man at Parkersburgh, Va, is