The Ellensburg dawn. [volume] (Ellensburg, Wash.) 1898-1914, 1913-02-13
CORN FODDER
EEED FOR BEEF
Expc!lments Show that Corn stovsr
10 Valuable In Beef Production
Corn Slower 10 One Of the Many
ey-Products Of the Farm.

Corn Slower 10 One OF the many
ey.Products Of the Farm.
Profit Is 4 stimulus when causes
men to engage In some one or more Oh
the many Ihases of business. II may
be commerce, the industries, BANKING
farming or some other activity, yet
when all is said, the profit from tnae
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 IL
true OF the farmer. The increase In
the value of land has necessitateo
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 1t Is en-
courasing 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 = rough
forage. Conditions have changed the
/ past few years: among other tA91gs.
/ hay has advanced in price to such an
extent that it 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 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.
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 rouEhage 1t reduces the cost OF
gains on two-year-old steers from 40
to 48 cents per hundred. The st0ver
WAS found to be actually worth 1856
per ton rs 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 slower from $500 to
| Sl2.U0 per ten.
With these figures before us. it II
Plain to see that the corn belt farmer
is resloctin 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
slower 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-pr0duct
had been saved Coming back to tho
individual farmer, he would have
realized his proportion Of this profit.
During this summer 10 the time to
plan on cutting the corn for fodder
this fall and utilizing to the best ad.
vantage the entire corn crop. We hnd
that the Nebraska bulletin No. 100
says: by feeding corn fodder, We
utilize the stalk and yet are put to no
extra labor husking 1t. In fact, corn
can be cut with harvester and put In
the shock cheaper than 1t can be
picked and cribbed. inasmuch as three
men with 4 team and harvester can
cut and shock seven acres per day
Records from the farm department
of this experiment station show that
1t costs $1.1S per acre to cut and
shock corn, which figure does not
allow for the wear and tear ON the
machine. Three cents per bushei
should cover the cost of harvesting
corn with 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.
ment station show that about "a per
cent of the feeding value of fodder 10
| loBt IL leIt eApOseU 10 tne elements.
BY shredding and storing, this loss will
be prevented. The fodder 10 also in 4
much more convenient form for hand.
ling, and 10 relished more by the stock.
Shredded fodder does not occupy a.
much room for storing as the un.
shredded. and the stable manure 10
much easier handled.
In summing up the results Of vari.
ous feeding experiments with corn in
all forms It Is found that the best
way to utilize the corn crop is to save
tho 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
lost. The value of the stalks az n
rough feed. considering hay at the
present price, is at least $500 per ton.
An ordinary yield OF corn will produce
two or three tons of stover to the
acre. Compare this value with the
price Of fifty cents per acre. which IN
usually paid for stalks standing in the
| field. When corn is fed aa shradAoA