THIRD ANNUAL YEAR BOOK — PART II. 71 



practice of feeding half a bushel of corn per day to a steer there is no 

 reasonable justification. Experiments in England, Canada and the 

 United States, together with the experiences of a few feeders that may 

 be found in every state, demonstrate that results equally as good may 

 be obtained by feeding half this quantity of grain, combined with good 

 roughage. As the land increases in value more animals must be kept 

 on a given area if the holding of land is to continue to be a good invest- 

 ment. The cost of fitting an animal for the block must be lowered, and 

 if this is done advantage must be taken of the fact that the steer is a 

 ruminating animal, and because of this is able to convert a large amount 

 of rough feed, as well as grain, into meat. Therefore, what I have to 

 say about forage crops is based on the assumption that these are grown 

 for feeding purposes and not to be marketed directly. 



Our greatest forage crop is corn. What we need most of all is to 

 be taught how to handle the forage part of this crop economically. In 

 spite of the fact that 40 per cent of the nutrients of the corn plant is 

 contained in the leaves and stems, we find that millions of acres of corn 

 stover are annually wasted in this state. There is little need for the in- 

 troduction of new crops until this standard fodder of the state is util- 

 ized to its fullest extent. Just how this is to be done depends upon 

 circumstances, and although it is somewhat outside the province of this 

 paper, I will say that the shredder is one step in advance of the old- 

 time methods of handling the corn crop. However, there are instances 

 where it would not be advisable to shred. It will seldom pay, for ex- 

 ample, to shred part of the crop and allow part to stand in the field 

 until it is worthless, for the reason that shredding is only done when 

 it is necessary to increase the feeding value of the fodder grown on 

 the farm. The same argument may be advanced in behalf of the silo. 

 There is no question but what the food from a given acreage will go 

 farther if converted into ensilage than if fed in any other form, and 

 yet so long as part of the fodder is wasted there is little need for in- 

 curring the expense of building a silo and storing the corn. 



The costly experience of the past season, due to the injury to the 

 corn fodder by frost., suggests the wisdom of making some advances in 

 our present methods of handling the corn crop. Where the crop is 

 converted into ensilage it is possible to cut and store it even before 

 the grain has reached the glazed condition, the same being to some ex- 

 tent true where the shredder is used extensively. In fact where large 

 areas of corn are handled in this way it is absolutely necessary to be- 

 gin harvesting early in the season. If there is a little shrinkage of the 

 grain after cutting the feeding value of the fodder will be all the greater, 

 providing, of course, that the grain has passed the milk condition. By 

 shredding the fodder or storing it in the silo one is relieved of a large 

 amount of disagreeable labor during the feeding period. Not only is the 

 labor disagreeable, but it involves no little expense to employ sufficient 

 help when fodder is drawn from the field daily. With silos located in 

 the immediate vicinity of feed yards or stacks of shredded fodder located 

 similarly, one man can accomplish much more than if the fodder is. 

 drawn from the field daily. 



