Wood County reporter. [volume] (Grand Rapids [i.e. Wisconsin Rapids], Wis.) 1857-1923, 1895-11-28

the ration, was not on account OF Its
quality, or healthfulness, but we could
not induce, by any kind of persuasion,
the hogs fed literally of cooked pota-
toes to consume scarcely any corn.
Depending, as we do, largely upon
corn for fattening purposes, we were
compelled to abandon cooking pota
toes and then corn was relished and
consumed with avidity. Cooking food
for swine has not proved profitable
with us, for we never knew what it
was to raise hogs that would top the
, market till we abandoned it and de-
pended upon corn almost entirely for
fattening purposes. But we still feed
potatoes and know that they are valu-
able Tor either growing shoats or fat
tening hogs, and also for brood sows
especially before narrowing. but they
are fed raw, just as they come from
the field; in raising hogs we have
never seen the time we could not at
ford to feed them.
In summer when grass is abundant
corn can safely be fed to hogs, for the
cooling effect Of the grass counter
balances the heating effects of the
corn, and together they make an ex-
Cellent ration. In winter, when de-
prived of grass, we know of no better
substitute than raw potatoes, and we
always feed them to all classes of hogs
at least once or twice a week, depend
ing upon the size of the crop Our
usual method is to scatter them over
the feeding floor among the corn, al
lowing three to five pounds for each
hog, and this is continued during the
winter. We do not feed them specially
for either growth or fat, but as an aid
to digestion, to cool the system and to
give variety to the food. They are al
ways relished, and undoubtedly con-
ducive to healthfulness. If more pota-
toes were raised and the shoats fed
raw potatoes in the fall, with new corn,
the latter limited in quantity, there
would be far less disease than at pres
sent prevailing. Have no fears in re-
gard to feeding raw potatoes, for no
possible injury can result to either
growing or fattening hogs, and if you
wish to bring the brood SOW to the
best condition for narrowing give her
a few raw potatoes every day for a
month or two before the critical time.
Preparing Corn Fodder-Among the
obstacles to the fuller utilization of
corn fodder the unpleasant work of
handling it whole and the great waste
that results from feeding it that way
are prominent. When placed before
cattle whole so much Of it is not con-
sumed that the farmer very naturally
argues that if it is going to be wasted
anyhow, it may as we'll be wasted in
the stalk field before the work of cut
ting is done as after that labor has
been expended on it. While we are in
the habit of saying that the slower
contains two-fifths of the feeding value
Of the whole crop, it is, as a practical
question, impossible to get anything
like that proportion of feeding value
out of it unless it be we'll prepared be-
fore feeding, so that it will be more
fully consumed. 1t follows that the
question of saving the fodder, which is
an economy very much to be desired
is inseparably connected with that of
getting it in condition so that i will
be practically all consumed.
One of the methods of preparing it
for feeding is cutting it into very short
lergths- half an inch, or an inch-as
is done when the corn is put up as
silage. There are objections to this
method, a principal one being that the
sharp, knife-like edges of the covering
OF the stalk is very liable to make the
mouths of animals sore and thus
cause more loss of thrift than there is
gain from the feed which the fodder
furnishes. The most satisfactory way
of preparing it yet devised is by the
use Of the shredder, which brings the
fodder into very fine condition for feed
ing A small sample bale of this
shredded fodder, done by the keystone
machine, lies before US as we write,
and it looks as though every shred of
it would be eaten by cattle, as we have
no doubt it would be- The only prob
lem when the shredder is used is that
of curing the shredded feed so that it
will not blacken and spoil, of which
there might be danger when the shred
ding was done in large quantities.
small shredder that would reduce the
fodder in small quantities as wanted,
from week to week, would perhaps be
a good idea. Considerable use is also
made of the threshing machine which
produces results very similar to those
of the shredder, although the work is
not done quite so we'll and it is prob
ably hard on the thresher, which is not
made for such heavy tasks. In putting
the corn through the thresher the
cylinder spikes are usually left in and
one-halt OF two rows of the concave
spikes, the alternate ones in each row
being taken out. The concaves are
also not set up very close. The corn
comes out shelled and somewhat
cracked, good for feeding, but not in
market condition, and the stalks are
very thoroughly torn up, and the same
care is necessary with respect to curing
and a proper degree of dryness as in
the case of shredded fodder.
Decrease in Wheat Cultivation
Poster Lloyd says: The most strik-
ing disclosure in the recent Hungarian
ministers report of the wheat and rye
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