The Abbeville press and banner. [volume] (Abbeville, S.C.) 1869-1924, 1882-10-04
Corn for Farm Horses.

We have long doubted, says the NcW
England Farmer, whether, everything
considered, it pays for the extra labor
to cook, or eve to grind corn for all
our farm stock. For feeding mich
COW and fattening beef it is quite
probable that a larger per cent. Of a
given weight Of grain would be di-
gested when ground than if fed whole,
but even here it remains a question
whether the grain would be more than
sufficient to offset the extra cost of
grinding. The expense of grinding
corn as it is often managed is no
small item. \ farmer spends per-
haps a half day or more in Smelling
the kernels from the ears, possibly with
nc better tools than a common shovel
placed bottom side up over a half
bushel measure; then rides several
miles to a mill with a light one-horse
load, which it may not take more than
an hour to grind, but which must wait
its "turn," under the old rule, first
come, first served" then there is the
toll to pay, usually one bushel in six
teen. In dry weather, when the
streams are low, it not unfrequently
happens that the "grist" must
ne left several days, causing an
other journey to the mill, which, if six
or eight miles away, makes a good
deal of travel for the little gain that is
supposed to accrue from grinding in
stead of feeding whole. 70 be sure,
the miller is always full of news"
which he is eve ready to impart to his
attentive customers, so that the mill
may be as good q place to 90 for cur
rent news as the p~ostotlice, though, on
the whole, we prefer the latter, on ac-
count of its wider field and ability to
give us little more choice in the selec-
ton. AS most farmers purchase a con-
siderable portion of the grain fed to
their stock and will continue the prac-
tice, even if they grow more than for
merly, our advice would be to purchase
ground corn for cows and for old hogs,
and then feed the homegrown grain to
young pigs and horses. Western farm
ers seldom feed corn to their horses in
any other way than in the ear, and
their animals do well uponit, andsuffer
no more from collie or other diseases
of the digestive organs than
Eastern horses that live on ground
food. We have fed our own
horses with corn on the ear during
portions of the past two years, and
find they not only like it as well as any
grain they get, but do as well upon it
in every respect. 1t must be remem-
bered, when considering this question,
that every kernel Of corn left at the
mill to pay toll is just SO much lost to
the fertility of the land upon which it
grew, while the few stray kernels that
may pass the horse undigested when
fed on the ear are not necessarily lost
to the farm unless the teams are on the
road continuously, as is seldom the case
with farm horses. Young pigs, too,
are particularly fond of whole corn,
and if not fed too freely, and other
foods OF poorer quality, as bran and
SKINNED milk, are given in part, the
corn will be digested with very little
waste, while the saving on milling will
by no means be inconsiderable. In
feeding whole corn either to horses or
pigs that are unaccuStomed to it, care
must be taken not to 0verfeed at first.
We have seen pigs nearly ruined by
feeding excessively on corn. The same
is also true Of corn meal.