Gloucester County Democrat. (Woodbury, N.J.) 1878-1932, 1900-11-15
CORN AS POULTRY FOOD.
An Emphatic Denial of the Conten-
ton OF the "Anticornites.v

tiOm of the "AnticOrnttes.v
When the writer began poultry keep
ing on large scale, he was very shy
Of corn as a staple food for poultry. be-
ing influenced greatly by the current
denunciatlons of corn as a poultry food
and not competent to analyze the ar
guments of those attempting to demon
strate the unsuitabieness of corn as an
article of poultry diet. In practice he
soon learned the value of corn and
more corn. With added experience
and opportunity to investigate the
matter he learned that the success of
the anticorn demonstration depended
on assumptions which were probably
false. He is still patiently waiting for
some one who thinks differently to
show that it is wrong. Attention is
called to it at this time because there
have just come to our notice two treat
ments of the corn question by leading
English writers which, as far as their
influence extends in this country, will,
we feel sure, do more harm than good.
We have hesitated to even allude to
this matter in an issue of ,thes paper
which already contained one. discus
sion ON the relative merits offEnglish
and American methods lest antipathy
to things English should be thought
the motive, when, in truth, the oppo-
sition is to the thing itself. But, be-
lieving that the effect of the anticorn
teachings are, on the whole, bad for
the poultry industry of America, and
perhaps of other countries, too. we
feel that it is in the line of duty to try
a fall with the anticorn fallacy when
ever and wherever it appears with an
Endorsement likely to give 1t serious
weight with poultry keepers whose ex-
perience is not great enough to have
taught them the true value of corn.
We unhesitatingly rank corn and
corn products at the head of the list of
poultry foods-the domestic fowls staff
of life-and assert that a poultry keep
er who is not using it very literally is
not living up to his opportunities In
the line of cheap food and better profit.
1t is not in the use, but In the abuse, Of
corn that the fault lies. One of the
writer's to whom we refer says, 'sThis
unfortunate result Diver diseased "can
in almost every case be traced to the
use of Indian corn" We do not think
either he or any one else can show that
corn Is more at fault than other grains
except that corn is the grain most
commonly fed. The inquiries we re-
ceive for treatments of liver disease
run well up into the hundreds in a year
and show conclusively that it is the too
much grain diet, whether corn, wheat,
oats or variety, that causes liver dis
ease. 1t is too much concentrated food,
lack of green stuff and lack of exercise,
not simply and solely too much corn.
We are getting very tired Of seeing
corn made the scapegoat for all the
bad results of poor poultry keeping.
IF the anticorn advocates will absorb
d few such facts as these, perhaps they
may devote less time to preaching
against corn and the poultry world be
thus much bettered.
Corn is the staple article of diet al
most without an exception wherever
superior poultry of any kind is pro-
dueed in quantity for the American
market
1t is corn that makes rich eggs. The
egg men in the cities will tell you that
the richest eggs come, as rule, from
the sections where corn Is most used;
also that they have repeatedly taught
shippers to improve the quality of
their eggs by insisting on feeding more
corn.
There are poultrymen, lots of them,
in this country who make poultry pay
well who feed practically nothing but
corn, grass and meat and have used
this diet continuously fcc:. ySals-
Such facts as these make any demon
stration against the use Of corn look,
as the slang phrase puts It, like 30
Farm Poultry,