Oxford Democrat. [volume] (Paris, Me.) 1833-1933, 1904-01-26
The Place of Coarse Folders in
Dairying.

ly on the hays of our common grasses
to supply coarse feed to their herds.
Much of this fodder is cut over ripe, or
is made up of the poorer grasses, and is
not adapted for feeding milch cows.
Care should be taken to save the best,
early cut hay, for cows giving milk;
while the poorer grade of hay should be
fed to horses, dry stock, or young ami
mails.
The growing of clovers with our COM
mon grasses, or the use of early cut
hays or rowen is of great advantage in
dairying. Timothy hay alone, unless
cut very early, is of little value in milk
production. 1t should be used in feed
ing horses or dry cattle, or sold in the
markets. Some farmers make a prac-
tice of selling timothy and buying mixed
HAYS with liberal proportion of clover.
The Maine farmer, as rule, is fortunate,
because most of the soils of the state
are well adapted to clover and the finer
grasses. Wherever dairying is practiced
these should be grown in preference to
timothy.
An important point in handling the
grasses and clover is to cut them early.
The composition and the digestibility
are two of the leading factors in deter
mining the value of fodder. OF these
two factors the digestibility, together
with the ease of digestion, is the most
important. The digestibility of feed
has commonly been measured by the
percentage of the various nutrients ex-
tracted from it, during the process of
digestion. This alone does not indicate
the proportion available for the building
of bodily tissues and milk. The ease of
digeStiOR must be reckOned as an impor-
tant factor in the value of any fodder.
That part of the energy of the food re-
quired to make the food available is OF
no use in forming animal products. 1t
follows therefore that those folders
which require large amount of work
on the part of the animal, to make their
food materials available, are of less value
than those which are digested with great
er ease. One reason why earlier cut
hays are more valuable than those cut
in the seed stage is that the former have
from 10 per cent to - per cent more OF
their total nutrients digested, while con-
siderable more of the energy of the late
cut hay is required to perform the work
of digesting the tough woody materials,
which make up the greater part of such
HAYS.
Many farmers utilize such feeds as oat
and wheat straw in feeding cows. Rye
straw is too hard and tough and is sell
dom relished by animals. The straw
folders should never be fed dry but
should be cut up fine and be steamed or
moistened Just before feeding, and then
have the grain added to them. Such
folders are generally better eaten when
a considerable part of the coarse fodder
consists of ensilage. When the straws
are fed they should be supplemented by
the liberal feeding of grains rich in pro-
tein, such as cotton seed, linseed and
gluten meals.
Well cured corn fodder and stover
are often not as fully appreciated as
their value will warrant. By corn fOd-
der is meant the stalks and ears dried
together, to be fed without husking;
while the stover is the stalks after the
ears have been husked. Corn is fire.
Ouently grown in drills, so that the
plants stand close together, and it will
often produce heavy growth of stalks
with some small or partially developed
ears. When well cured this is quite
valuable, but it should be fed in the late
fall or early winter to prevent loss from
mice. The stalks or Stover OF corn,
which has been grown for grain, is a
valuable fodder, but is often wasted or
poorly cared for. Well cured and well
housed stOver is nearly or quite equal in
feeding value to fair grade of hay.
Unfortunately most of it is either not
well cured or is improperly housed.
Corn grown for grain should be set up
in the field in large shocks and when
well dried should be huSked and the
stover be placed either in a well made
stack, or better in a dry loft of the barn.
The butts of the corn hold SO much
water that mold soon forms and decay
follows, if much Stover is placed in one
pile. This makes it important that the
fodder should be scattered over large
space in the lofts, or be stored in a we'll
ventilated stack. Corn stover should
never be fed unless finely cut, or shred
ded. In many places shredder can be
hired. and if the stover is in good con-
dition when shredded it can be stored
and used as needed. If moistened and a
little grain is added To it, most, if not all
of it, will be eaten.
The only succnlent feeds of much i'm
portance ON most farms are roots and
ensilage. In this country root crops are
not extensively grown for fodder on
account of the expense, owing To the
large amount of hand labor required in
caring for the crop. rurnips are grown
on many farms, in limited amounts, and
MANY dairymen desire to feed them to
milch cows. The Swede or rutabaga
turnip can be fed much more safely than
the strap leaved varieties. The Swede
turnips are so hard that they should be
well sliced before feeding, and if not
fed to excess, two quarts (after slicing)
per day, no bad results will follow.
The strap leaved varieties should not be
fed to milking cows, but are valuable
for young stock or dry cows. Beets and
mangoldS are the best of the root crops.
These are healthful and impart no bad
flavors to the products, Experiments
have shown that mangold and sugar
beets are about equal to corn silage,
pound for pound of dry matter, for feed
ing milch cows, but the cost of produc-
ing an acre of beets was considerable
more than for an acre OF corn.
On the whole enSilage is the cheapest
succulent feed, for the New England
farmer to produce, for use in feeding
dairy cows in winter. Corn will pro-
duce more pounds of total food nutrients
than any other crop which is we'll adapt
ed TO our climate. The cheapest way to
handle the corn crop is through the silO.
When preserved as ensilage it is more
palatable and more valuable to feed than
in any other form. The question of the
labor required in the work of digestion
(referred to in the case of early and late
cut hays) helps to explain why ensilage
gives better results in feeding than the
same kind of fodder when dried. The
animal must expend quite portion of
the energy of the dry fodder in the work
of digesting it, while much less of the
energy of the ensilage is needed to make
its nutrients available. Ensilage made
from sweet corn fodder, after large
portion of the ears have been removed,
is an excellent winter feed. The grow
lug of sweet corn for the canning fac
tories is a common practice in many