The Windham County reformer. (Battleboro, Vt.) 1876-1897, 1880-12-17
Dry, Green aud En- silRged Corn
Fodder.

The value OF corn-staks 10 univer.
sally reckoned high by all eastern farmers.
At the West, they are not considered worth
the saving, though stock are often turned
into the corn-feds to eat what they will
after the ears have been gathered. The
only eastern man of prominence who has
talked against corn-fodder, is DIR. Loring,
president of the New Engind agricultural
society, and even he is willing to admit a
difference between the corn fodder aud fod-
der corn, meaning by the first the stalks or
''stover' Of field corn after removing the
ears, and by the second corn grown
thickly on purpose for feeding Ell
ther green or dry. This last he adj
mits TO be valuable though he thinks even
that is ovcr-estimated. On the other hand,
that other medical farmer, DR.. Farmer,
lately editor of the Scientific Farmer,
rcckons his ''stovern at two-thir1s the value
of the price of good hay, and he raises
large fields of corn partly with the view of
using the dry stalks for COW feed, and sell
ing his hay. Though we have grown and
fed both corn fodder and foddercorn for
many years, yet we never tried feeding 1t
alone to mich cows until the present season.
We confess that we have been disappointed
with it. Until our early sweet corn was In
the milk, we soiled our cows upon grass cut
upon Amasa SCOTS plan-before the stem
appeared-and with excellent results We
had one-half acre of sweet corn growing in
alternate rows with newly-s + Strawberries,
as shade to the young plants, In August
we began cutting this and taking about half
the best ears for the pig, giving all the lest
to the COWS. The decline in the quantity
and quality of the milk was immediate and
marked. An allowance OF quart of meal
additional per day did not bring either
quantity or quality back to the standard OF
grass Lately, the sweet corn being ex-
hausted, we have been feeding Sanford corn,
which is much better liked by the cows,
and, probably as aconsequence, is produc-
ing more milk We should not have be-
icved Sanford corn to be much better than
sweet corn had we not seen how much bet
ter it is eaten. Yet even the Sanford is in
ferior to grass. Cured corn-fodder, if well
cured, with the corn that grows on it,
ground and fed with it, has always proved
with us so nearly equal to fair average hay
that we could not notice difference; but
when fed alone it makes very white butter
that is hard to churn. Nicely cured corn
fodder. not grown so thick but there are
good many nubbins on it, is better, in oui
experience, than average hay for butter
production.
We have never, however, been able to
get any corn-fodder of so good kind, or
so perfectly cured, that less than twenty
per cent of the total weight was rejected by
cows This rejected portion, consisting OF
the butts of stalks, is not total loss, as
horses will eat good deal Of what the cows
leave. We do not believe that it could be
made profitable to force cows IN milk to eat
up the best corn-fodder, or foddcr-corn,
perfectly clean No doubt they could be
starved into it, but where is your milk in
that case2 You won't find much of it in
the pail.
Here, if anywhere, comes in the main
profit of ensilage. The fermentation of
ensage according to the chemists, makes
about four per cent more of the fodder
corn digestible than in the raw state Add
this to the twenty per cent usually left by
the cows, if not forced to eat it, and we
have gain of one fourth in the feeding
value of ensilage over perfectly cured corn
fodder. When we consider the difficulty
and, we may say, in some seasons, the
impossibility-of 50 perfectly curing corn
fodder that it will not mould, we think it
would be fair to say that the gain OF en-
slage Gas to feeding valne) over cured fod-
der corn can hardly be on an average, less
than one third.
If corn fodder could be preserved by en-
slage without the production of alcohol or
vinegar in the mass, there seems no reason
to doubt that its use would prove of vast
benefit to dairy farmers. To increase the
feeding value of fodder. corn one-thrd, as
we have nodoubt is the case when ensilaged
is to put it about on an equality with the
best hay cut in the blossom. When with
such enslage mixture of bran or oatmeal
is fed to mich cows in winter, we should
expect the milk and butter yield to be quite
satisfactory. But the effect of sour AMI al
coholic ensilage upon the teeth and stomachs
of cows would, we greatly fear, soon prove
SO iniurions that the loss in the end would
be greater than the gain. 1t is not impos-
sibe that chemistry may be able to give us
some cheap and harmless substances, which
sprinkled upon the enslage, will prevent
these harmful Preventative processes, and
give us perfectly sweet ensilage. If this
result can be reached, we should expect to
see the use of ensilago become general on
our dairy farms. II. II. UOSStns.