36 



Shredding- corn fodder is regarded as an economical practice, but 

 apparent]}' few experiments on the comparative merits of shredded 

 and whole corn fodder for horses have yet been reported. No marked 

 variation was observed in the weights of two lots of horses fed whole 

 and cut timoth}^ or whole and cut alfalfa and clover h&j mixed in a 

 test carried on at the Utah Station." 



At the Marjdand Station Patterson,* who studied the digestibility 

 of a number of whole and ground feeds, found that grinding corn 

 shives — i. e., cornstalks from which the blades, husks, and pith are 

 removed — until the material resembled coarse bran did not destroy its 

 value as a coarse fodder and that the finely ground material supplied 

 the necessary bulk to the ration as well as the same material unground. 

 It was further claimed that the finely ground coarse fodder possessed 

 an advantage over the unground material in that it could be mixed 

 with grain to form a well-balanced ration and fed to horses on ship- 

 board, or vmder similar conditions, more readily than unground fodder 

 and grain. 



COST OF A RATION. 



The cost of a ration made up of the ordinary grains and coarse 

 fodders has been investigated by at least three of the American experi- 

 ment stations. The Massachusetts Hatch Station ^' recorded the kinds 

 and amounts of foods consumed b}^ tliree farm horses for five years, 

 with a view to learning the average cost of the daily feed. In the 

 different 3'ears the cost of the ration, which consisted of hay, corn, oats, 

 and other common feeding stuffs, varied from 18.5 to 24.8 cents per 

 head dail3^ 



At the Oklahoma Station '^ statistics of the cost of feed of work 

 horses were also recorded in tests of the comparative value of Kafir 

 corn and maize. Red Kafir corn and maize at 20 cents per bushel, 

 oats at 25 cents per bushel, and Ijran at 25 cents per hundredweight 

 were used. The average cost per horse of a day's labor was estimated 

 to be 17 cents. 



Using mixed-grain rations, according to the New Hampshire Sta- 

 tion,'' the average cost of feed per horse "per year was 174.32. The 

 average cost for feed per hour's work performed during the two 3'^ears 

 covered by the test was 3.4 cents. 



The data recorded above are too limited for general deduction. 



FATTENING HORSES FOR MARKET. 



Fattening horses so that the}" will reach market in good condition 

 for sale is quite an important industry in some regions. For instance, 

 in Iowa there are a number of feeders who thus prepare large num- 



«Utah Station Bui. 13. <« Oklahoma Station Rpt. 1899, p. 31. 



6 Maryland Station Bui. 51. ^ New Hampshire Station Bui. 82. 



c Massachusetts Hatch Station Rpt. 1893, p. 179. 



