Herald and news. [volume] (West Randolph, Vt.) 1878-1943, 1894-02-22
AMONG THE LIVE STOCK.
HINTS FROM THE EXPERIENCE OF
BREEDERS AND OTHERS.

The Cheapest Feed for stock = Well
Cured Corn Fodder the Best-Figures
of One Years Crop-Its Cost and How
1t was Fed-succuIent Hog Food.
Waldo F. Brown, of Ohio, who has been
in charge of farm stock every winter for
forty years, has used all kinds of rough
feed; clover hay from both mammoth and
medium clover, timothy, blue grass, red
top, and millet hay, and wheat, oat and
rye straw. After this long experience,
he gives well-cured corn fodder the pref
erence over any and all other coarse feed.
In recent article in the Journal of Agri-
culture, he says: / have found that can
winter full-grown COW or horse, on the
fodder from an acre of good corn, and the
cost of saving this acre and putting in
the barn is usually less than half a ton
of hay would sell for, and when hay is
high, less than a fourth of a ton.
AS an example of the economy of corn
fodder compared with hay, will give the
figures of last years crop: / grew IL acres
of corn. 1t cost me SIS to have it put in
shock at six cents per shock of 120 hills
EACH To husk it and bind the fodder in
bundles cost eight cents shock or ga for
inc OOu 6uDthSs DuI lTODl Lulk We QtQuCl
three cents per bushel for husking 500
bushels OF corn, which reduces the net
cost to 49, 1t took three days for two
hands and team to put this fodder into
the barn, which at regular wages for such
work would be $40, making the entire
cost of this fodder in the barn S37. We
wintered six horses and four cows on this
and from September 1 to March l (six
months) did not feed a pound of hay.
By the first OF March the fodder was
gone, and the following six weeks this
same stock ate hay that would have sold
for more money than all the fodder had
cost me, and were not in as good condi-
tion as when we made the change in food.
To get the very best results from the
corn fodder, it must be we'll cured and
put into the barn early, and be fed in a
warm stable in racks or managers so ar
ranged that none of it will be wasted.
II fodder is left in the field until mid
winter or spring, and then fed on the
ground with cattle tramping over it, it
usually does not pay for handling. 1t
should be cut about the time the ears be-
gin to glaze-which is usually from the
middle OF August to the middle OF Sep
TENDER. Set the shocks up firmly and
tie the tops securely so they will stand,
and just as soon as the corn is dry enough
for the crib husk it, bind the fodder in
medium sized bundles, and store ii at
once in the barn.
/ have proved by many years observa-
tion that corn can be often cribbed about
three weeks earlier from the shock, than
II left on the stalk without cutting.
usually crib all of my corn in October,
escaping cold and snow which so often
trouble in November. / have never had
any trouble with the fodder heating or
molding in the NOW, except when care
lessly put in too soon after a rain. j feed
it in a wide manger, with the animals on
each side, the floor of this manger is only
little higher than that on which they
stand, and is boarded up SO that the stock
reach down for the fodder, and so cannot
get any of it under their feet to waste it.
The blades, husks and thimbles are all
eaten, leaving the stalks perfectly clean.
My barn has basement; the stables are
below, and the fodder is lowered through
a chute located just under the edge OF
the hay bay, and directly over the
manger, so that when the fodder
is dropped down, it falls where it
is wanted. The manger is six
feet wide, and horses and cattle standing
opposite cannot reach each other across
it, but can pull all the fodder from the
centre. There is a door at the end OF the
manger next the barn-yard through
which the waste stalks are carried each
day and scattered. Managed in this way
they are soon broken up by the tramping
of the cattle and mixed with the manure,
and give no trouble, but are an advantage,
as they help keep the yard clean and alb
sorb the liquid. Counting that my horses
and cattle would have eaten only u
pounds of hay each per day, my s37 worth
of fodder saved nearly IL tons OF hay-or
to be exact, p 900 pounds, and ! sold the