The Greenville times., 1888-03-03
ABOUT CORN FODDER.
s.x,r.I Methods which Add Considerably
10 Its Feeding Value


TO Its Feeding Value
Economy being one Of the mos1
profita BILE virtues. it is desirable that
farmers should exercise this virtue IN
the disposal of the corn fodder IL Is
common to see the larger part OF II
wasted in the manure yard. thrown
out and trampled in the mire. Ihis is
for want of a knowledge or Will 10
feed it properly. Prof Henry. Of the
Wisconsin Experiment station. De-
lieves that 40 per cent. Of the FODDER
is lost by feeding it whole. We think
the loss is even greater than this and
that fully two-thirds by weight is lost
by feeding corn fodder whole, while
80 per cent. Of it or more is utilized BY
eating it and feeding it with meal
This is a most important saving. ior
IL. as we believe, well-saved corn fod-
der is worth from IS to IS per ton
when hay is worth s. TO sl2 and
more in proportion, as hay is worth
more. the loss of one-half OF this
valuable feed is serious affair. Few
farmers have the true idea OF the act
ual value Of fodler corn, or of corn
grown for fodder. as much as for
grain. 1t is or may be made the chief
support of the stock for the winter,
and can be grown for IS per ton, dry
weight. Thus it is the cheapest fod'
der that can be procured.
The present method Of reducing corn
stalks to a condition for feeding needs
Improvement A mere cutting leaves
the stalks in short pieces, with sharp
edges which cut the mouths OF the an
imals and cause considerable pain.
The writer has found that whole
stalks, which can be chewed from end
90 end. are eaten more easily than the
short, sharp-edged pieces left by the
fodtler cutters 1t is not much better
when the cutter crushes the stalks, for
she sharp edges still cut the mouth.
Whist is wanted is a shred
der or grinder that will
reduce the stalks to q fibrous
mass. This may be done by means Of
steel cutting plates centered eccen-
,rically. so as to slice the stalks longi.
tudinally and reduce them to shreds.
The sugar makers use shredding ma.
chine consisting of drum covered
with teeth like those Of circular saw,
by which the stalks are reduced to
pulp. Either of these methods would
be effective for the purpose desired,
and would add large percentage to
che feeding value Of the fodder.
Ensilage seems to be the corollary Of
corn-fodder. and that one Is specially
made for the other. 1t is as easy to
grow 20 tons Of corn as 1t is to get I
ton Of timothv hay, and to grow 40
tons Of 1t as tons Of timothy. Ma.
nure and cultivation only are re.
quired to produce the largest crops Of
1t. BY somc curious metamorphosis,
not explicable by the chemists. 0
large part Of the nutriment co tained
in the green fodder is lost in the
drying, and consequently 1t is desir'
able to cure 1t in the silo, when the
loss of available nutriment is very
little, II any at all. The result 10 tha
II II farmer grows corn for fodder h,
must cure 1t In silo and If he wantl
II silo he must grow corn to fill 4
with. No doubt the remark that farm
ers who have silos and have growr
corn to fill them with are not borrow
ing trouble about the results Of the ex
tremely dry weather which has pre-
vailed the past summer Is true, ant
that fodder corn and the silo are in
dispcnsable to every well-managet
farm and great economy in the feed
ing of stock. The saving Of labor owe
the ordinary method Of curing fodde
corn i very considerable, and will
easily pay large part Of the expens,
of growing the crop.-M Y Times
1
AN English writer observes tina
the sense OF hearing in some bird