Oxford Democrat. [volume] (Paris, Me.) 1833-1933, 1898-11-22
THE FEEDING VALUE OF CORN AND
COS MEAL.

THE FeEoiNG VALUE OF CORN AND
COS MEAL.
The time Ia near at hand when the
greatest number OF animals are fattened,
and as corn Is the principal f4ttening
food In the United States, farmers are
naturally desirous OF knO~lng whether
there Is any feeding value 10 cobs, and
whether 1t pays 10 grind them up with
the ken nels. Meme ercus experiments
have been made at the experiment
stations In different States and by In
dividual stock feeders TO determine this
question, but there his been such wide
difference la the results found by the dif-
ferent experimenters that nothing seems
to have been permanently settled.
About fourteen years ago Professor
Newton, OF the Kansas Experiment
Station, made two trials Of fatteniug
steers for three months on corn and COB
meal and pure cornmesl. The hrst
showed that corn and COB meal was bet
ter than the pure cornmeal. The next,
made the following year, took III 2-3
pounds Of pure corn meal TO make
pound of increase, and l26 pounds OF
corn and cob meal TO make pound OF
increase In weight OF amin ils. A pound
Of clear grain was worth as much as |
pounds of corn and cob meal, show x
but little, il any, value In cobs. Profess
sor Newton calls attention to he fact
that, while ne got little value out OF
the cobs In the last experiment, IL was
not enough TO pay for grinding them.
He used the ordinary farm mill, driven
with horses. and IL required two and a
half times more power and time to grind
the ear corn than 10 grind the shelled
grain. There was such wide difference
between his two experiments that he
ought To have tried the third or fourth.
in An experiment made at the Iowa
Station with steers it vas found tina. 10
make gain OF one pound IN flesh it re-
quired about five cents worth OF corn
aud cob meal, and from IL to 4 CENTS
TO make an increase Of one pound with
shelled corn, upgrouud. That Is, the
cobs were an actual detriment In the
feed.
An experiment at the Texas Station
with feeding steers resulted as follows:
A pound Of clear corn was equal to l-2
pounds Of the mixture Of cobs and ker-
nels ground together. There must have
been huge mistake in this Texas ex-
pertinent. II Is contary to all reason.
They probably fed too strongly OF the
corn and cob meal and kept the bowels
Of the steers fed with II too loose, II they
did not actually get the scours.
Although nutritious food and digesti
BILE food are not by any means sypony-
nous terms, or the same thing, 1t has
been supposed that some valuable In
formation might be procured on the corn
and cob question by sscertaining the
amount of digestible matter In cohs and
also In shelled corn.
Professor Armsby, Of the Pennsylvania
Agricultural College, says: Seventy
pounds Of ear corn will make SO pounds
of shelled corn and IL pounds Of cobs, or
20 per cent Of cobs and so per cent OF
shelled grain. Ffty-six pounds OF clear
corumeal will have shout a pounds OF
digestible matter In it OF real food for
ruminsn' or cud-chewing animals. The
IL pounds Of cobs when ground will con-
tain sbou, 9 pounds Of digestible mat
ter. The question simply Is whether
that 10 pounds OF additional food which
we can get out Of the cobs IL worth the
trouble and expense Of grinding them.
The Massachusetts Station found that
out OF 100 pounds Of corncobs there
were 50 pounds that could be digested
by sheep. The North Carolina Station
found bu; i3 pounds, and the Connecticut
Station only about IL pounds. There
mus, have been 4 vast difference in the
quality OF the cobs experimental upon,
or the experimenters were not sll equally
careful and accurate. IL should be re-
membered. however, that experiments
made In one place under certain con-
ditions may not give the same results
when made in another place under diff
ferent conditions.
Professor Sanboru says: "Close OBJ
servation Of fine ground cornmeal con-
vinces me that Il has very high feeding
value, and that coarse cobmeal has very
little value" Its value, In his opinion,
depends almost entirely on It's fineness.
IL is well known that In the fall and win
ter, when farmers want TO feed the most
corn, and generally have to begin on the
new crop, there Is so much moisture In
the cobs that II Is utterly impossible for
any mill To grind ear corn down fine.
john NJ. Stahl, who is practical farmer
as well as an able writer, says: II have
fed cobmeal-made three trials Of it
and have not been able TO get much feed
ing value from it,"
More than forty years ago cobmeal
craze broke out like smallpox or measles,
saA NJ at "A
few years, ran its course and died out.
Nv father, who owned q grist mill, at
the suggestion OF his miller and the So
licstion OF his customers built An addition
10 his mill, put Ia an extra waterwheel
aud procured the necessary machinery
for grinding ear corn In the best manner.
The expense was $500 or $500, and for
time il seemed To ne profitable In
vestment. He ground the corn for bis
regular customers, and attracted custom
from other mills TO such an extent that
they. too, had TO put In the machinery
for grinding corn In the ear. The sd
ditiousl toll for grinding corn aud
cobs together WAS not much, the
mill was kept in good order, and the
meal WAS ground IS fine as possible,
which lowing 10 the moisture in the
cob.) Was not always very fine, and the
miller WAS honest; but gradually the
corn and cob custom fell of, and In less
than three years IL had ceased entirely,
and the spiders spun their webs un-
molested over the cob mill. Ii was the
same with every other mill In this part
Of the country, and do not know Of n
single mill that has now the machinery
for grinding corn in the ear, nor any
farmer who owns q cob mill.
What was the cause of this surprising
downfall 10 the popularity OF cobmeal
and cob mills? The question Is easily
answered. The farmers, having given
the meal fair trial, bee lme fully con-
vinced that the actual value Of cobs was
so little that /, did not pay to have them
ground, and that corn in the ear could
not be ground so fine as the shelled
grain. Few farmers keep any old corn
over, and most Of them begin feeding
from the new crop as soon as It Is husk-
ed, before the cob has become dry, when
il Is not possible to grind the corn and
cobs together as finely rs they should
be ground. The eobs retain moisture
much longer than the grain. which
makes them grind hard, and II an at
tempt is made to grind fine the mill
stones will begin to 'grumble," glaze
over, 20 slower and slower, and unless
they are raised and allowed TO grind
coarse, will choke up and stop with 4
m n L.