Ottumwa semi-weekly courier. [volume] (Ottumwa, Iowa) 1899-1903, 1903-03-24
RYE AS STOCK FOOD
John Macdonell Receives Letter
From Agricultural College.
CARE IN CHOOSING SEED CORN
Prof. Holden of the Iowa Agricultural
College, a Leading Authority Upon
Corn, Gives Valuable Information
to the Farmer.

Courier readers engaged in stock
raising will be interested and profted
by reading the following letter from
animal husbandry. of the Iowa State
College of Agriculture to John Mac
donell of Ottumwa upon the value of
rye as food for stock.
| The letter is as follows:
"Your favor of February 81 has been
referred to me for answer. In reply |
may say that rye is not a very good
feed for any kind of live stock, espe-
cially when fed alone 1t is certainly
not best to feed much rye to brood
sows or young and growing animals,
Rye can be fed in conjunction with
oats, corn and other feed to fattening
cattle with fairly good results. For
brood sows | would recommend that
you feed ration of shorts, oats and
corn. about equal parts by weight,
Some oil meal in addition will also
prove very satisfactory.
If you have a good deal of rye on
your hands and desire to feed it,
would recommend feeding not over ten
per cent of the ration rye at any time
Ito hogs. You may feed as much as
twenty-five per cent of the ration of
rye to cattle, providing bran, oats oil
meal and gluten feed, or some other
foods rich In protein matter, are fed
in conjunction with the same. Fol
work horses about the same amount
can be fed to good advantage. Fol-
brood mares | would not recommend
i oil meal
YOU have any market for the ry'
think it would be better to sell mos
of it and buy other feed. such as glu
ten feed. corn, Swift's Digester Tank
age etc, for your brood sows."
Growing of Corn.
Professor P. G. Holden, NJ Sc, b
Pd.. of the department of agronomy
I at the Iowa State College of Agricul
ture is one OF the leading authoritie
in the United States upon the GROWN!
of corn He has given some goot
practical information that will be o
" value to the farmer in choosing see'
for planting. His information is draw
from practical experience and expert
ment and is not mere theory.
The facts upon which he lays mos
stress may be summarized as follows
4 /. 1t is very important that W.
should depend upon home grown see'
for the main part Of the crop, and no
: upon imported seed ei.t 20
2. We should select ears of corn TO
seed which have kernels of as nearl
uniform shape and size and shape a
: possible; otherwise it would be impos
: sible to secure an even stand with an
planter.
3. Do not fail to test the plante
thoroughly with the seed you intend t
use and stay with it until it drops reg
ularly the number of kernels required
in each hill.
4. Test the vitality or gcrminatin
power of all corn intended for seed
This is especially important this yeal
D. In case any seed corn is pun
chased from seedsmen, insist upo
, having it shipped to you in the ear eth
|, er in crates or in barrels.
g. All of this work-that is, TIL
testing Of the vitality, the sorting, tn
Smelling and the testing of the corr
| Smelling and the testing of the plante
, should be done now and the soor
, er the better. If put off until the hui
ry of spring work is upon us there
danger that it will not be done a
all.
Test Seed Corn Early.
) We believe that if canvass is mad
| of the country there would be foun
2 very few farmers who make an a,
tual test Of the seed corn before plan
, ing Most farmers assume that thei
: seeds is all right and then plant j