Evening times-Republican. [volume] (Marshalltown, Iowa) 1890-1923, 1904-02-19
WASTE lN THE com Sell.
Corn Fodder Worth HoIf as Much .
Timothy Hay.

I
Corn Fodder Worth HeIf as Much 2.
i Timothy Hay.
! In an address before the Nebraska
Iboerd of agriculture A. p Groui. OF
Illinois saia:
"Unioubteily the most stupendons
waste OF today is that of the corn
lcrop on the farms OF the corn growing
suites The annual loss from th.
source represents millions upon mil
] ions OF dollars 10 the corn growers OF
this country. The amount is almost
beyond our ability to comprehend, yet
the waste is steadily ana constantly
going on year after year. The great
waste is in the corn growing and cat
}tle feeding reslons-the place where
we are told the land is so valuable that
we can not afford to raise our own
feeders and where we can not afford
to keep a COW unless we milk her.
j Corn. the great fattening food. g
grown upon our highest priced and
most valuable land. and. as rule, the
farmer who raises II il also the feeder.
Under existing conditions and accord
ing to the prevailing idea, he can not
afford to raise his own feeders of the
type and quality that will make him
the most money. He must buy what
ever kind he can get, good. bad or in
different, from some other section of
the country, where the land is cheaper
and they can afford to raise them. To
my mind there is something radically
wrong about this whole business. as II.
does not permit the corn grower and
feeder to say to what kind OF stock he
will sell his com. believe the farm
er should run an independent plant
from start to finish, and when he has
raised the corn or other food and de-
sires to market IL thru his stock. that
he will have the stock OF the type AMI
quality to consume IL: which his besr
Judgment tells him will net him the
most money. The farmer who raises
the most corn must. OF course, pro-
duce the greatest amount OF that food
stuff now so prodigiously and profit
gately wasted.
Why nos utilize this valuable food
product in growing the animals that
later are to be fattened upon the corn !?
1t is a very simple proposition and
believe a practical one. 1t simply pro-
poses to utilize what is now permitted
to so TO waste. II We can grow stock
upon what is now wasted we will sure
ly stop the waste and be that much
ahead. And what is to hinder? You
ask can 1t be done? Two objections
or excuses are offered for not making
a better usa OF the corn fodder. The
first thing It has little or no feeding
value and in the second place II II has
value. 1t is less than the cost Of har-
vesting and saving II. In other words
the convention IS, that 1t costs more
to save the corn fodder than 1t Is
worth after it Is saved, and therefore
1t is a saving not to save it.
It is not necessary for me to enter
into any discussion in regard to its
value as a stock food. The actual feed
ing tests that have been made at our
experiment stations and the compari-
sions in feeding value with other food
products of known and standard value
have settled this question beyond all
The conclusion Is this,
that corn fodder when fed alone has
something like one-half the feeding
value OF timothy hay. but when led
In combination with clover hay or some
food of that nature, Is fully equal to
timothy hay. The corn fodder produced
on an acre of good corn land is equal
in quality and value to the timothy
hay that could be grown on the same
land Shall we save it,
For fear that some may think that
am talking at random or through ms
hat" as the saying is. I want to ex-
plain that annually raise about 900
acres N corn in Illinois For the past
two seasons the yield has been between
Eighty and ninety bushels per acre. and
The yield of fodder over three tons per
acre. / have every acre, every stalk cut
Up and run through the shredder I
~. l. A. N.r,.