Gloucester County Democrat. (Woodbury, N.J.) 1878-1932, 1894-03-29
UTILIZING THE CORN CROP.


Opinions Expressed by Farmer who Does
Not Despise COrncObs.
Diverse opinions are yearly expressed
on the subject of cobmtal as feed for
stock. Here is what one farmer, and
successful one, too, has to say on the
subject IN communication to Country
Gentleman: Perhaps the silo gets all
the feeding value out Of the corn crop,
but every farmer will not have a silo,
and there should be some substitute for
it. This might be mill into which
the stalks and ears might be fed, and
all ground together. Then no part of
this invaluable plant will be wasted.
1t is some years ago that l suggested the
utility of Il mill for grinding the corn
in the husk, and now see such a mill
is in the market, although | have not
yet tried it. But for stock feeding it
must be great economy, as the husks
are nutritious, said by some Of the ex-
perts to be preferable to the blades or
the stalks. This believe, as find my
stock Of all kinds, horses, mules and
cattle, even the calves, eat the husks
readily and get rid of them, while the
whole stalks are only partly eaten.
But the cobs seem to be despised by
the majority of farmers, and it is al
legged that the hard plates in them can
not be ground or digested. This |
know is a mistake. Once had grist
mill on one of my farms, and the
farmers thereabouts brought corn in
the ear to be ground for all the stock
horses and cattle alike. They insisted
upon having the cobs ground fine, and
did this by using one Of the eccentric
steel mills then used for grinding quartz
for the gold mines, first breaking the
cobs in bark cIusher reversed. The
meal was quite as fine and soft as that
made from the grain alone. When
magnified, the hard parts of the cobs
appeared like the scales of the cleaned
bran now usual in the market. On
feeding the meal to my horses, and care
fully examining the manure, no par
ticle of these hard parts Of the cobs
could be seen. They seemed to be digest
ed fully as well as the bran OF the grain.
1t is we'll known that the stomach OF
an animal heats the chemists appara-
tus in the digestion of the food, and
that by skillfully mixing foods more of
them will be digested than il one were
fed alone. Some part of the success in
feeding economically depends on this
mingling of various foods, and it is
well known by observing feeders who
thus make a practice of using several
kinds of foods together and find as
result that the products of this mixed
ration is better than those from any
single food.
Some years ago | suggested to farm
implement maker the use Of number
Of small saws mounted on a shaft as a
means Of thus shredding the stalks and
other parts of the corn plant with the
grain so as to make a mixed feed for
cattle that would be easily eaten and
digested. Since then this method has
been adopted in the preparation of the
cane for sugar making, the cells of the
plant all being broken up by this shred
ding and thus releasing the sweet sap
much better than it can be done by
crushing. There is little doubt that II
such a machine were offered to stock
feeders it would become popular. II
the whole waste Of our enormous corn
crop could be accurately figured up, it
would amount to such a large sum aA
would add greatly to the aggregate prof
its of feeding stock. In every other
industry than agriculture every small
saving is made, and 1t adds consider
ably to the income.