The Saint Paul globe. (St. Paul, Minn.) 1896-1905, 1899-11-27

1t is a good thing for the Western
farmer to realize that there is a value in
corn fodder. Perhaps 1t Is different in
some of the Western states and that
there, corn slower cut or shredded, is of
more value than clover for feed, but with
us in Wisconsin it is not the case Here
good clover is the hay for the cow, and
believe this to be true everywhere. AS
to utilizing corn fodder and putting 1t in
proper shape to be consumed by cattle,
1t is a fact, says the Homestead, that
some years ago almost every farmer felt
obliged to have a cutter or chopper, my
self among the rest. Now cutters have
been exchanged for shredders, and in a
majority Of cases the shredder has been
abandoned. The reason seems to be that
1t does not pay to use it, and that the
gain claimed does not furnish compensa-
ton Tor the labor. Neither shredders nor
cutters add any feeding value to any
thing. The facts are that by mixing
what the animal chooses to eat in its
natural condition with part that is fully
one-thtrd wood, by which 1 mean the
joints and shell Of the stalk we interfere
with the right and privilege of the animal
to make its choice. Let any one first give
the animal chance to eat what 1t choos-
es OF the stalk and afterWari cut I'D or
shred the remainder and see how much
or 1t VIII be consumed. 1 do not think
they can figure out any gain from it. I
have watched the matter for several
years without being able to see where
the gain comes in. It gives the animal
trouble to pick out the parts, the leaves.
etc-' are broken or ground into very
small pieces by cutting when the stalk is
dry and the time and energy Of the cow
is wasted. 1 recently visited a leading
oalryman' and In looking into the man
gers of his herd, which is a good place
HON
observed perhaps bushel of cut and
shredded corn fodder and silage. I
asked the oVerseer how 1t happened that
the morning ration was not eaten He
careIeSsly replied that they did eat IT be-
fore noon. [ thought at the time that
curing this interval the cows ought TO
nave been resting and reche wing their
cuo' ana that they would have regarded
II as kindness to have the food given
them In its naturat condition have
no doubt that those who treat their cows
IN this way think 1t pays better because
the stalks are out of the way and are no
trouble in the barnyard, but it is cheaner
&c take the remnant out of the rnanger
and put 1t in the corner of the ward than
to give the animal the trouble, for I have
never seen either cut or shredded fodder
cleaned up. There is a gradual change
taking place In regard to the use of tbe
stalks, L think. Where the matter has
been carefully studied the silo Is becou-
ing the leading storehouse for corn fod
der. And we are going still further in
the matter of giving nature a chance to
help us by drilling the corn in rows
thick enough so that it will grow thin
stalks. mean by this that we are
planting in this way that portion of tba
rand that is given over to growing fod-
DER Of this kind for the silo and for feed
mat portion which is devoted to grow
ing corn OF course is treated differently.
think all folders, such as hav. corn
FODDER etc, should go to the cattle in as
nearly as possible their natural condI0
ton. L believe 1t a waste of time to ont
anything, and above all 1 would NOT ont
corn Tor the silO. 1 know that exneri-
ineht stations claim a larger food value
III corn stalks than q cow can get OUT of
IT, In order that the animal may get the
Iooo properties from it she has to di-
gest the woody part of the stalk: hit
we ali advocate cow kindness. and T
thlnk 1t is Kindness to her to let her have
her food as she likes it, giving her tia
same privileges of eating her food soma
rately that we claim for ourselves.