White Bluffs spokesman. [volume] (White Bluffs, Wash.) 1907-1938, 1928-08-31
THE VALUE Of cULLS
AS FOOD FOR STOCK

Of interest to stockihen and dairy
men is an article psepa,ee by r. P
Bean, superintendent OF the experi:
nent station at Prosssr, on the tooe
value Of Gull apples and potatoes foI
stock. He says:
Farming, and particularly cash-crop
production, is one Of the few major in
dustries in which serious waste of
by-products is quite generally accepted
as unavoidable When prices are SUI
iciently high in relation to production
and marketing costs. the satisfactory
net returns usually serve as curtain
between the growers eyes and the pos
sible value of the Gull pile. Generally
only when this pleasant situation is
disturbed by shrunken profits do men
look for dollars in the waste-end Of
their crops, Fortunately an increasing
number of potato growers, fruit men,
and truck gardeners are either feeding
Gull and surplus produce to livestock
or are working to establish suitable
"ty-product industries in the produc-
ing districts. Diversion of inferior pro-
duce from direct market competition
with better grades will improve the
market situation in good years as
well as in poor ones"
The slow market movement of the
1928 crop of early potatoes and the ap-
rroach Of harvest time of the main
crop. has brought to the Station num-
erous inquiries as to the value of Gull
potatoes for livestock and methods of
feeding them. The brev.ty of news
story forbids a detailed discussion o.
this subject. consequently the follow.
ing review touches only on general
values.
Potatoes are sort OF dual-purpose
feed, ie., (1) they are fed preferably
cooked, to hogs to replace part of the
grain required for pork production,
and (2) in the raw state to cattle,
sheep. and horses as succulence and to
replace. portion of the hay.
The following comparison of the
composition of potatoes with shelled
corn. choosing the latter as principal
grain fed to hogs. indicates why ra-
ton Of potatoes alone is not satisfact-
ory. One ton of potatoes contains ap-
pro1.mately 424 pounds of dry matter,
of which 342 pounds are digestible
composed in part Of 22 pounds of crude
protein, 316 pounds Of carbohydrates
(chieftly starch) and two pounds Of
fat.
One ton Of shelled corn contains
about 1904 pounds dry matter, Of
which 1884 pounds is digestible. COM
posed in part of 142 pounds of crude
protein. 1921 pounds carbohydrates
(bcth sugars and starches,) and 50
pounds of fat. BY the above figures a
ton Of corn contains four. and three
fourths times more digestible nutrients
than ton Of potatoes. In other words
a ton of spuds contains approximately
as much digestibie enistefiai AS .4le
pounds of shelled corn. Quoting from
''Feeds and Feeding" by Henry and
Morrison, "In two trials by Henry at
the Wisconsin station Az pounds of
potatoes fed after cooking enualed 100
pounds OF corn"
The composition of potatoes may
well be compared with that of corn sill
age, s,liee those two succulent feeds
occupy similar places in rations for
cattle and sheep. A ton of corn silage
contains approximately SIG pounds 1T
cry matter, of which 354 pounds is d-
tgestible. composed in part of ID
pounds crude protein, 500 pounds car
bohydrates, and Ia pounds fat. Feed
ing experiments al the Irrigation
B1anci, Station support the conclu-
SION, indicated by the above compari-
son, that potatoes and silage have
approximately equal values for cattle
and sheep.
Sixteen beef cows fed 100 days con-
suned an average daily ration of 1877
pounds of cut hay and 51.2 pounds of
potatoes each, gaining 1875 pounds
daily per head, at a feed cost of 1913
pounds of hay and 2627 pounds of
potatoes per 100 pounds gain.
A similar lot of 16 beef cows during
the same period consumed l4.8 pounds
of cut hay and 37.9 pounds of silage
each daily. gaining l.55 pounds daily
pcr head, at cost Of 95o pounds OF
hay and PASS pounds of silage per 100
pounds gain.
Twenty feeder lambs, fed for 100
days. received an average daily ration
of LAS pounds potatoes, l.eo pounds. OF
cut hav, and SO pounds of grain.
A similar lot received Las pounds
silage, 1.76 pounds hay and .9o
pounds of grain. The potato
lambs gained 1878 pounds
each and the silage lambs 1858 pounds
each. The potato lambs required 430
pounds potatoes, 5s2 pounds hay, and
2s5 pounds of grain per 100 pounds
gain. The silage lambs required 4eo
pounds Of silage,s 5e4 pounds hay and
325 pounds CT grain per 1co pounds
gain. In these trials the greater con-
sumption Of hay with potatoes as COM
pared with the consumption of hay
with silage undoubtedly accounts for
the greater gains by the potato-fed
cows and lambs.
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