The Somerset reporter. [volume] (Skowhegan, Me.) 1868-1909, 1899-10-19
Jk&6tH6sc 49,
aGARM. FogGD
aHb GARDEN
CUTTER OR SHREDDER.
The Shredder For Dry Fodder and
the Cutter For Ensilaxe.

The shredder has come into very
general use as an implement for chop
ping up dry corn fodder and is largely
superseding the fodder cutter Dry
stalks, when torn into long, thin
shreds, are much easier to handle than
when cut up fine. They can be han.
died with a fork, in much the same
manner as chaff or short hay, and can
be readily stacked or put In the NOW.
1t Is also the general belief that cattle
will eat the stalks better when shred
ded than when cut. The square. sharp
edges of heavy stalks which we get In
cutting are avoided, and cattle do not
get sore mouths from the shredded
fodder. as they occasionally do from
eating cut stalks.
Shredded fodder makes much better
bedding, because II is softer and Ion
ger Cattle do not eat the shredded
stalks any cleaner than when they are
cut fine. At least such has been my
experience. What they refuse to eat
Is better for bedding and Is easily
swept out behind the hangers.
But for putting the corn into the silo
like the cutter much better than the
shredder. Last fall we tried the two
methods. In one 100 ton silo the corn
was cut into half inch lengths. An Is
inch cutter with an IL horsepower en-
CINE and SO foot carrier handled the
corn easily and as fast as four men
could work on the wagons and round
the machine. After filling this silo we
swung the carrier round to another silo
of the same size and put In the shred
der head In place of the knives.
While the engine had an easy time of
IT before we found that with the shred
der 1t required all the power available
and greater care In feeding so as not to
stop the machine with a big armful.
which would have gone through the
cutter with only a groan. The shred
ded corn came out so loose and light
that 1t was necessary to put third
more speed on the carrier In order to
take care of 1t.
The shredded corn filled up much
faster, but after the second days work
1t seemed apparently to settle as fast
as we kept putting in. AS there were
no scales on the place, and we did not
have enough corn to ill this slo full,
there was no way of closely comparing
which Of the two methods would allow
the most corn to be put In the silo.
But. figuring II out from the number
Of loads and the acreage, none of us
could see MAT one method had any de-
cided advantage over the other In this
respect. | have heard 1t stated that a
silo would hold one-third more of
shredded than Of cut corn, because the
shredded corn would settle firmer, but
from our experiment | doubt II there
Is as much as 10 per cent difference. If
there is any. In actual results.
The shredded ensilage WIS opened
and fed first. There was less of 1t
spoiled on top than Of the cut, but not
enough to make much difference. This
was undoubtedly due to the fact that
the one silo was opened in November
and the other In March. The shredded
ensilage we could handle nicely with
fork; so we could the other II the
tines were close together. The shred
ded ensilage does have an advantage
over the cut in handling, but that Is
the only advantage we could see for 1t.
The feeding is the crucial test. and In
this the cut ensilage was superior 1t
was sweeter and brighter In color, and
the cattle ate 1t with less waste. The
long fine shreds of the heavy stalks
were not eaten as clean as the cut
pieces. For dry fodder think the
shredder Is to be preferred. but for
ensilage | much prefer to use the
knives, Is the conclusion arrived at by
Mr.. Edwin C. Powell Of New York,
who makes the foregoing comparisons
between the cutter and shredder In
The Country Gentleman.