Manchester Democrat. [volume] (Manchester, Iowa) 1875-1930, 1906-09-12
Save Your Corn Fodder.

Save Your Corn Fodder.
Complaints came from many
sections last spring OF clover and
timothy having winter killed. This
was largely caused by rather warm
weather during February and a very
cold spell in March. During May
and June there was scarcity of
rain in many sections of the corn
belt particularly in Illinois, Indiana
and in parts of Missouri, which re-
suited in short hay crop, even in
localities where there was good
stand Of grass. In view of these
facts, it is not surprising that the
hay crop as a whole is very short.
There is no doubt but that hay will
sell at very high prices next winter.
In fact, there are those that claim
that first class timothy will sell at
from Sl5 to $50 per ton on the city
markets and that it will bring from
$40 to Sl2 or Sl5 per ton on the
farm. Ii these estimates are correct,
and without doubt they are, it is
evident that farmers should save all
of their roughage this year and dis
pose Of as much of their timothy
hay as possible. When good corn
fodder, that is good shredded fodder,
can be had on the average farm at
a cost Of from $3.50 to $3.50 per
ton, it will certainly pay to save it
and sell every ounce of timothy hay
at $40 or Sl2 per ton. Shredded
corn fodder has a feeding value
nearly equal to that of timothy hay;
it certainly has three-fourths its
feeding value. Ordinarily it is
difficult to persuade corn belt farms
ers that they should cut their corn
fodder. Their excuse for leaving it
standing in the field is usually that
they have more roughage on the
field than they can use to advantage.
This argument may hold true in
seasons of large hay crops, but it
will hardly hold this year; we believe
that many farmers will see this point
clearly and that a much larger por-
ton Of corn fodder will be cut this
fall than has been the case during
the past four or five years.
When the fodder is to be fed
either whole or shredded the corn
should be cut when the kernels are
well dented and glazed, just as the
lower leaves Of the stalks begin to
turn white and the husks begin to
open; if it is cut earlier it's food
value will not be nearly so great; if
it is allowed to stand much after
that stage, the leaves become so dry
that large proportion Of them
break off while the corn is being cut
and shocked. Corn shocks should
not be built too large, as then there
is difficulty in getting the fodder
cured. Ii there is corn husker
and a shredder on the place, the
cost of husking and shredding will
not be great, and the additional
amount of food that can be secured
from such shredded fodder will pay
for the husking and shredding
many times over, especially is this
the case when you take into con-
sideration taat the shredded fodder
can be used as substitute for
timothy hay, which inrturn may be
sold at good round price, in fact,
at a price SO high that it is above
its farm feeding value.
1t is not absolutely necessary to
shred fodder in order to get the full
feeding value out of it. 1t may be
fed to very good advantage if cut at
the proper time and properly cured
without shredding or cutting, but it
is much more convenient to handle
shredded than whole fodder. Further
more, cattle will eat more of the
shredded than Of the whole fodder,
and whatever remains uneaten is in
better condition to be made into
manure, whereas whole corn stalks
are difficult to handle in the manure
pile, and they also make poor
manure unless they are allowed to
lie in the barnyard until we'll rotted,
in which case much Of their fertiliz-
ing value becomes lost to the farmer
The refuse from shredded fodder
makes excellent bedding, which
means that it will to some extent
save straw, and in year of high
priced hay, straw becomes quite a
valuable food for young stock that
are to be wintered on maintain
ance ration. Both straw and shred.
ded corn fodder also make good
roughage for horses, in fact, there
are farmers who consider shredded
corn fodder superior to timothy hay
for horses. This is probably put.
ting the matter little too strong
at the same time, horses that are
not doing much work, which is the
case with the majority of farm horses
during the winter months, can con
sumo large amount of shredded
fodder to advantage. We have re
ferred to the shortage of the hay
crop at this time in hopes that i
may lead at least some of our read
ers to consider the adyisability o