Republican news item. [volume] (Laport, Pa.) 1896-19??, 1912-09-20
FEEDING CORN FODDER

(By ]. e. Waggoner of the I H Ser
vice Bureau)
Profit is a stimulus which causes
men to engage In some one or more OF
the many phases of business. 1t 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 "by-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 it cost him. The same is
true of the farmer. The increase in
the value of land has necessitated
putting farming on more of business
basis il order to realize profit on the
investment.
Much has been said and written re-
garding saving and utilizing the waste
products of the farm, and it is en-
couraging to 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 to 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 it Is only good business
practice for a farmer to supply his
rough forage in the form OF corn fod-
{ der and put his hay on the market.
!. Every grower OF an acre of corn
should know the feeding value of the
entire crop. 1t is quite generally
known what returns can be expected
from the grain, but few farmers know
the feeding value of the corn stover
(stalks without the ears). Reports
from the Nebraska Experiment Sta
tion on experiments made comparing
combinations of shelled corn, snapped
corn, alfalfa and corn stover show
that when stover is used as half
of the roughage it reduces the cost of
gains on two-year-old steers from 40
to As cents per hundred. The stover
was found to 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
a mark of more than twice this amount
the past year, thus increasing the
value of corn stover from $500 to
$1,000 per ton.
With these figures before us, it Is
Plain to see that the corn belt farmer
Is neglecting 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
If this what might be called by-product
had been saved. Coming back to the
Individual farmer, he would have
realized his proportion of this profit.
During this summer is the time to
plan on cutting the corn for fodder
this fall and utilizing to the best ad-
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 it. In fact, corn
can be cut with harvester and put in
the shock cheaper than it 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
1t costs $1.18 per acre to cut and
shock corn, which figure does not
allow for the wear and tear on the
machine. Three cents per bushel
should cover the cost Of harvesting
corn with a machine and putting it
in the Shocks"
The logical way of saving the corn
crop is to shred the fodder. Extensive
experiments at the Wisconsin Expert
cent of the feeding value of fodder is
lost il left exposed to the elements.
BY shredding and storing, this loss will
be prevented. The fodder is also in
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 it is found that the best
way to 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