The Weekly Kansas chief. [volume] (Troy, Kan.) 1872-1918, 1881-06-16
Corn Fodder VS.. Hay.

Waldo I. Brown, an intelligent farmer of Ohio.
believes that the corn stalksand leaves, pruperly
saved on an acre in corn, is valuable to feed
stock as the hay would he raised on the same
amount of ground In the Farm and Fircside he
says that the result of eXperimets have been such
rs to convince me that bright corn fodder is
good for stock, and by this mean both pala-
table and nutritious any hay that was
ever made. / have never vet found horses or
cattle that did not prefer it to hay, and after
carefully noticing its effects ! believe it To he
better than any hay. | have found il very much
cheaper than hay, it costs nothing but the
saving, and this is not great deal more than
the harvesting and housing Il crop of hay.
count, after careful experiment al acre of corn
fodder worth much a ton of good, bright
hay, and the cost of putting fodder III the barn
or stack is not more than $50 per acre. This Is
the most it has cost me for the last five years,
when have hired il done by the job My neigh
Dor, 1.-THE Squire" has reduced the cost largely
by hiring men by the day and working with
them. We cut ten hills square, which gives
| twenty-sevcn shocks per acre, and pay > cents
per shock for cutting, which makes sl.33. The
husking and binding cost me cents per shock,
and it costs about 65 cents an acre to haul to the
barn stack. This makes the entire cost 81 2;
but as corn must he husked anyhow, we can
deduct the expense of it from this, which will
| bring the cost of the fodder down to less than
| $3.50 per ton. / estimate a ton of fodder To an
acre. mean net fodder. Repeated wcghings
| show that the husk and blades below the ear
| will weigh about onc-f0urth pound IN the stalk,
and the blades above the arabout half as much.
With 500 hills TO the acre, should only need
| a little over two stalks to the hill TO give us a
| ton of net fodder to the acre.
| There Is another thing in connection with fOd-
| der feeding which consider an advantage, al
| though many think otherwise. and that is the
| large amount of waste it furnishes TO Use as
| an absorbent. | have weighed repeatedly Il
ration of fodder for my cattle, and then weighed
| the refuse, and find that they eat - per cent.
| of it, The 81 per cent. left is bulky, and the
pith of stalk is just like a sponge, il is an
excellent absorbent, and if cut into length of
| inches, or less, makes one of the cleancst and
| best beds for stock that can Ice found on the
| farm. Even when fed long, have nn trouble
| whatever in working il into manure. We carry
| out the waste each day and spread il over the
manure heap, aBl when properly managed, corn
stalks will decOmpOse sooner than straw. Chem
zeal anal ysis shows that corn-stalks richer in
| organic materials than other waste on the farm,
a ton of the stalks containing nearly fifteen
pounds of the phosphoric acid and over eight
4 pounds of potash.
! Ispoke Of stocking fodder, and am sure that
few farmers know how easy it can he done, for
| the majority of them leave their fodder in shock
| till it is wanted, which is miserable plan, for
when winter once sets in, it is either frozen ia
the ground or the fields are 50 muddy rs to make
| il very disagreeable work handling it. What
ever else is neglected, would advise that all
| the fodder he secured before winter. i find the
cheapest and best way is to bind it with rye
straw, and | always keep supply ON hand
| do not allow the grain TO ripen, but cut the rye
when in blossom, as the straw is much more
pliable and tougher. and scatter no rye seed
| when we SOW wheat after corn, as we are Obliged
| to do more or less each year. The difference in
the profits of two farmers, one of whom saves his
| twenty acres of fodder each year, and the other
| grows instead twenty acres of timothy for hay,
| will amount to handsome sum in ten years
The farmer who pastures his corn-stalks is al.
most sure TO damage his land by tramping, while
he who cuts it will keep his stock at the barn
| and have a liberal mamma nile