Vermont phÅ“nix. [volume] (Brattleboro, Vt.) 1834-1955, 1885-04-03
Corn Meal va. Cob MeRI-.- perrin entn
In Enannuiu.r aannra

Prof. e. NJ. Shelton, of the Kansas State
Agricultural College, has been making a Sc
ries of experiments on the question of the
value of cobs as cattle food when ground
with the corn which grew on them. We give
briefly some of the results of these expert
ments. Prof. Shelton states that in some
parts of the East where the high values of
cattle feed compel the practice of close econ.
omy in feeding, the quite common practice
of feeding the cobs ground with the grain
has the sanction of long experience. Even
in the West the large and increasing number
OF the various patterns of corn. crushers in
use indicate corresponding increase in the
practice of feeding corn and cob. The actu-
al value OF the various stock foods is an agri.
cultural question that can only be determined
by actual experiment.
In the autumn of 1888, ten steers were
purchased for use in this experiment. These
animals were selected with the sole object of
securing those that resembled each other in
age, weight and feeding character The lot
were undoubted range scrubs of the most
pronounced character; not one of them had
ever been in barn or shed, or known shell.
ter other than that furnished by the lee side
of bluff or the scant timber growing along
prairie streams. The steers were tied up
Dec in plain, battened board shed which
had been prepared especially for them. Each
animal was given a space four feet in width,
with ample alley room in the rear. From
Dec. to 10 the steers were gradually intro
duced to the full feed which was to follow.
During this time a small but gradually in.
creasing ration Of grain was fed with a di-
minishing feed of hay. During the entire
progress of the experiment the practice was
to feed uniform ration of fodder that was
not so large but that it would be wholly con.
sumed by each steer. This amount was found
to vary from eight to ten pounds daily The
quality of this fodder varied from oat straw
to fair quality of mixed orchard grass and
clover hay. The regimen here provided,
that is, the maximum quantity of grain with
the minimum amount of fodder, is strongly
supported by the practice OF feeders in Kan
sas.
Five OF the steers were fed, with the ex.
ception of fodder, exclusively upon meal
made by grinding the whole ears of corn, in.
Guiding the cob. The other five steers were
fed, exclusive of fodder, on corn chop made
OF shelled corn. All were fed twice daily,
with all possible regularity, at A. NJ and
p. NJ, and all were watered once daily,
short time before'the afternoon feeding Each
steer was fed all that he would eat Of meal
and chop, without waste, and an accurate
record of the weight of each feed was kept
A lump of rock salt was kept constantly in
the feed box Of each animal. Every steer
was weighed at the end of each ten days of
the experiment. The cob must be thorough
ly pulverized, difficult task with the cheap
mills having slow motion; dainty animals
will reject the coarse particles of cob which
soon accumulate in considerable quantities
in the feed box. The nearer to the condition
Of an impalpable powder ground feed is re
duoed the greater its value.
The general result showed strikingly the
advantages of the corn and cob meal over
the clear corn chop. In every particular the
advantage was in favor of the steers which
we're fed ground corn with the supporting
cob. These steers consumed fewer pounds
of feed daily and totally than those fed corn
chop, making at the same time a larger gain
per steer aud per hundred weight OF steer.
and at a considerable less cost of feed. In
fact, this experiment shows conclusively that
pound Of corn-cob, when ground and fed
to steers with the corn on which it grew. is
worth more than pound Of meal made from
corn alone. This difference in the value of
eornmeal and corn and-cob meal NAV be
shown in another way as follows: II ,565
pounds of oorn-and. cob meal gave 1880
pounds of increase, while II, 5Gj pounds of
cornmeal gave but 1854 pounds of increase.
The question OF the proportion of corn to
cob in the Command cob meal used in the
above experiment is of importance. The
ings, made during the progress of the exper
iment, was 10 pounds Of cobs TO each 100
pounds OF corn in the ear. It is needless to
say that this Is per cent. of the yield of all
Kansas cornhelds, il the teachings of this
experiment are to be relied on, is OF vast i'm
portance to the agricultural interests of the
state. The difference between the value Of
bushel OF corn ground with its eobs aud a
bushel OF shelled corn, as shown by this ex-
pertinent is seen in the following statement
One bushel of 20 pounds corn -and-oob meal
gave $50 pounds of increase, while one bush.
el OF 90 pounds of corn meal gave but Z. O4
pounds of increase or, TO put this fact in
another form, II the value of this increase was
81 cents per pound (the price at which
the steers were sold, the value of the bush
Ell OF corn and-cob meal was fifty cents plus
small fraction, and the value OF the bushel
OF corn meal was something under 81 cents
cents, difference In favor OF corn. and cob