The Stark County Democrat. [volume] (Canton, Ohio) 1833-1912, 1895-09-26
CORN SLOWER.
The Feeding Value OF Slower - How TO
Handle It--Methods of Storing.

The Feeding Value OF stover - How TO
Handle It--Methods of Storing.
Corn stover means the stalk of the
corn after the grain has been removed.
Thrashed corn straw and shredded corn
are therefore include5 in the term
"stover, although u recently it has
meant only the straw or stalk of corn
that was husked by hand. Corn fodder
means the entire crop as it grew. It
may mean the cured crop in a form so
immature that it is possessed of no
grain, or the crop which has completed
its growth, or it may mean the same cut
at any period short Of maturity. The
essential difference therefore between
corn stover and corn fodder lies in the
fact that in the former the grain has
been removed from the straw, while in
the latter it has not.
As the outlook for hay is not encour-
aging, it is important that particular
care should be taken of the com stover
that may be available. That all kinds
of stock will winter we'll on q ration
the fodder portion Of which consists of
well cured corn stover has been demon.
strated often. Corn stover, when duly
cared for, should be as valuable acre for
acre as hay. The value of corn stover
practically lifts the farmer of the prairie
out of the realm Of danger from short
age in the hay crop, since he can have
corn stover or at least corn fodder any
season.
To get the full feeding value Of corn
stover the corn should be promptly cut
as soon as ripe and stood up in shocks.
When husked by hand, it may then be
put in long stacks, consisting Of two
lengths Of corn with the butts outward
and the tops overlapping far enough in
the middle to elevate the center of the
stack just little. Some old hay thrown
along the ridge Of the stacks and weight
ed completes the structure. But in some
sections there may be so much succu-
lence in the fodder that it will not keep
thus, and therefore has to be put up in
large shocks after having been husked
To thrash corn or to run IL through
the shredder is labor saving when it can
be done in quantity at one time. When
thus used, the corn stands in the field
where it was shocked until cold wealth
er. When run through the machine by
either process, the straw is stored under
cover or without cover, according to cir
cumstances But it is usually much
more conveniently fed if it can be put
under cover. Such system is labor saw
ing in marked degree.
The tearing or shredding Of the fod-
der increases the palatability of the
same, or at least it puts the stover in a
condition that will induce the cattle to
eat it more readily and also to eat
more Of it. But this plan has its dan
gers. Unless the cornstalks are we'll
dried and the weather cold, the stover
will not keep in large quantities; it will
heat and spoil. In fact, this in practice
will be found the one great difficulty in
storing corn stover after a wholesale
fashion, and the danger Of trouble aris-
ing from the source named will increase
with the increase in the moisture in the
cured corn. Slower prepared by thrash
ing or shredding is more likely to spoil
in Michigan than in South Dakota, says
Prairie Farmer, authority for the fore
going The danger may be averted by
handling only moderate quantity at
one time, but to proceed thus will be
more expensive than to thrash or shred
the entire crop or even q considerable
portion Of it at one setting of the ma
chine.