Elmore County Republican. [volume] (Mountain Home, Idaho) 1910-1915, 1912-09-21
FEEDING CORN FODDER

Corn StoVer is one OF inc mahy
By-Products of the Farm.
(By j. E. Waggoner of the H c Ser
vice Bureau
Profit is a stimulus which causes
men to engage in some one or more or
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 necesstated
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 alum
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 thsEgs,
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 stoYer
(stalks without the ears). Reports
from the Nebraska Experiment Sta
ton 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 4S cents per hundred The stover
was found to be actually worth $355
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 stoyer from $500 to
S12G0 per ton.
With these figures before US, it is
Plain to see that the corn belt farmer
is reglocting 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.
! l., iz In
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 team and harvester can
cut and shock seven acres per day
Records from the farm department
of this experiment station show that
it costs $11S 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 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 PEI
cent of the feeding value Of fodder is
lost if 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 IN
shredded, and the stable manure is
much easier handled.
In summing up the results Of vari
Gus feeding experiments with corn II
all forms it Is found that the bos'
way TO utilize the corn crop is to save
the stalks either in the form Of ensil
age or shredded fodder The record:
Of the Nebraska Experiment Station
dispel any doubt as to the economy Of
harvesting corn by the use Of the corr