The Camden chronicle. (Camden, Tenn.) 1890-current, 1903-03-06

year, al small towns In the east.
iowa farmers were paid SO to SIS a
ton for shredded fodder, balcd. Tim.
othy and clover hay brought higher
price. but this was practically the first
appearance OF corn hay on the market.
and its feeding value was only just be
ginning TO be appreciated
The yield Of corn hay runs from one
to two tons an acre. The Maryland
experiment station estimates that a
good crop Of corn win yield one and
one-half tons of fodder and that this
fodder contains as much dlgestiblo
matter as two tons of clover or tim
othy hay; but IN the southern states
a much larger proportion of the value
of the corn plant is found In the stalk
than in the north, where the ears are
large and the stalks proportionately
small. II is safe 10 assume that an
acre Of corn viii yield as much rough.
age as an acre Of timothy or clover.
A corn shredder costs about 5000.
The owner of the machine here charg.
es five cents a bushel, $3.50 an acre
OF $3.50 an hour for shredding. and
of this the man who runs the engine
gets one.half. The capacity Of a shred.
| der runs from six to eight acres a day.
It requires three men and teams to
haul the fodder two men to pitch in
the field, one to cut bands, another to
haul the shelled corn away, besides
| the machine men. II the hay is
stacked, another man will be required,
making eight men altogether Count
ing the men at $3.50 day, this makes
| S12 for help and $12 for the shredder
a total of $24 for eight acres. This
includes hauling the fodder and husk.
ing and Smelling the corn, all of which
must be done even if the fodder is not
/ shredded. The cost of cutting and
shocking is about $3.50 an acre, which
would make a total of $3.50 an acre
for harvesting the corn crop, putting
the shelled corn in the crib and the
shredded fodder in the barn.
An Illinois farmer who has cut and
shredded % to so acres for seven
years places the cost at IS to $3.50 an
acre, with an average yield of two
tons. Another counts $42O an acre,
and still another $5.O5, while many
place the total cost at much lower fig.
ures. From this it will be seen that
corn hay costs only So to SO a ton,
and every one will admit that it is
worth more than that.
Shredded fodder is very apt to spoil
unless thoroughly dry when stacked
or put in the NOW. If the juice can
be wrung from one stalk in 10 it is
too moist to shred. 1t may be safely
stored with 20 percent of moisture,
but 40 percent is dangerous. A num-
Der Of stalks may be weighed, dried
in an oven and then weighed again
to ascertain the water content. The
shredded fodder may be stacked IN
narrow riCks and covered with slough
grass or cane. If put in a NOW, it is
best not to tramp, but just allow it
to lie loosely as it comes from the
blower. 1t is more important to shred
large stalks than small ones, as the
latter are more apt to be eaten whole
There was almost a revolution in
cutting and shredding fodder in the
western states last year. In south
western Iowa, there were over two
dozen shredders sold in four counties
An immerse amount of fodder was cut
with binder and afterward shred
ded. The high price of corn and hay
was the cause of this innovation.-O
H. Barnhill, Shenandoah, Pa.