The diamond drill. (Crystal Falls, Iron County, Mich.) 1887-1996, 1912-08-31
FEEDING CORN FODDER
Experiments Show that Corn Slower
(. Is Valuable In Beef Production
Corn Slower 10 One OF the Many
By-Products OF the Farm.

vice Bureau)
Profit is a stimulus which oauses
men 10 engage In some one OF more OF
The many phases OF business. II may
be commerce. the industries. banking.
farming or some other activity. yet
when all is said. the profit from that
particular line OF work Is usually the
attractive feature. Competition has
become SO strong that profit In many
undertakings Is made only by practis-
Ing the strictest principles Of economy
and exercising unusual care In looking
after the small things and what might
be termed "hy.products." For In
stance. one OF the sources OF the bank
er's income Is the small increase In
the rate OF interest on money loaned
over what il cost him. The same Is
true Of the farmer The increase ~
the value OF land has necessitatea
putting farming on more OF business
basis Il order to realize profit on tho
Investment
Much has been said and written re-
garding saving and utilizing the waste
HAVAhAAc Va iAAE AAA III anu IL 40 GU
couraging 10 note that more farmers
are making better use OF all the prod
ucts OF their farms than ever before.
One Of the most serious wastes has
been the neglect 70 save and utilize
the entire corn crop. The principal
market demand has been for the
! grain. This, combined with an abun-
dance OF hay, has not been conducive
TO the use OF corn fodder as a rough
| forage. Conditions have changed the
past few years; among other things.
hay has advanced in price TO such an
extent that II is only good business
practice for farmer to supply his
rough forage in the form OF corn fod-
der and put his hay on the market
Every grower or an acre OF corn
should know the feeding value Of tho
entire crop. II is quite generally
known what returns can be expected
! from the grain, but few farmers know
the feeding value OF the corn slower
! (stalks without the earsl. Reports
! from the Nebraska Experiment Sta
ton on experiments made comparing
combinations OF shelled corn, snapped
corn. alfalfa and corn slower show
that when stoyer is used as half
OF the roughage Il reduces the cost OF
gains on two.year-old steers from 40
TO AS cents per hundred. The stover
was found 20 be actually worth $3.50
per ton as compared with alfalfa fed
alone at $500 per ton The farm value
OF alfalfa and other hay crops reached
mark Of more than twice this amount
the past year, thus increasing the
value OF corn stover from $500 to
$500 per ton.
With these figures before us. II is
plain to see that the corn belt farmer
is neglccting one OF his important
sources OF income by letting his corn
stalks stand In the field. Considering
the small yield Of only one ton OF
stover TO the acre, the returns OF the
American farmer would have been
increased millions OF dollars last year
II this what might be called by-product
had been saved Coming back 20 the
individual farmer, he would have
realized his proportion OF this profit
! During this summer - the time TO
plan on cutting the corn for fodder
this fall and utilizing 10 the best adj
vantage the entire corn crop. We find
that the Nebraska bulletin No. 100
says: by feeding corn fodder. We
utilize the stalk and yet are put to no
extra labor husking f. In fact. corn
can be cut with harvester and put In
the shock cheaper than II can be
picked and cribbed, inasmuch as three
men with a team and harvester can
cut and shock seven acres per day.
Records from the farm department
OF this experiment station show that
II costs Sl1s per acre 60 cut and
shock corn, which fgure does not
allow for the wear and tear on the
machine. Three cents per hushel
should cover the cost OF harvesting
corn with a machine and putting IL
In the shocks"
The logical way OF saving the corn
crop is to shred the fodder Extensive
experiments at the Wisconsin Expert
ment station show that about "a per
cent OF the feeding value OF fodder is
lost II left exposed TO the elements
BY shredding and storing, this loss will
be prevented. The fodder Is also In a
much more convenient form for hand
ling, and is relished more by the stock
Shredded fodder does not occupy as
much room for storing as the un-
shredded. and the stable manure Is
much easier handled
In summing up the results OF vari-
Gus feeding experiments with corn in
all forms II r. found that the best
way 10 utilize the corn crop is TO save
the stalks either In the form OF ensil-
age or shredded fodder The records
OF the Nebraska Experiment Station
dispel any doubt as to the economy Of
harvesting corn by the use OF the corn
binder as compared with husking the
standing corn IN the field Under the
latter condition the stalks would be