198 



THE BOOK OF CORN 



animal, the undigested portion being voided in the 

 form of dung, as so much worthless or waste material. 

 In general the grains and concentrated feeds are 

 more completely digested than the coarse fodders. A 

 larger proportion of the corn grain is digested than 

 of the corn stover. A larger proportion of wheat than 



of the straw. It is 

 worthy of remark in 

 passing that the corn 

 grain is one of the 

 most concentrated and 

 is the most completely 

 digested of any of the 

 grain feeds. Then, 

 too, the digestibility 

 of any foodstuff may 

 be affected within cer- 

 tain narrow limits by 

 its palatability, by the 

 quantity consumed by 

 the animal, the stage 

 of growth or develop- 

 ment at which it was 

 harvested, and its 

 combina t i o n with 

 other foodstuffs. 

 Contrary to the 

 general impression, the digestibility of a feed does 

 not appear to be affected either favorably or 

 unfavorably, at least to any appreciable degree under 

 ordinary circumstances, by cooking, soaking, grind- 

 ing, or the method of preserving or drying, so long 

 as it is not subjected to mechanical loss of the finer 

 parts in drying and handling or to molding or fer- 

 menting in the process of preserving. 



The amount of digestible nutrients, therefore, is 



Fig 51— Rack for Fodder 



In feeding- unshredded corn fodder, care 

 in handling may be secured through the 

 use of the simple device here illustrated. 

 This rack is easy to fill and will retain the 

 stalks, allowing the cattle to eat off the 

 leaves and other eatable portions. The rack 

 is to be built against a fence so that the 

 filling can be done from the outside. The 

 manger a is only high enough to retain the 

 fodder Make the frame of 2X4's. The 

 rack b should be made of four-inch fencing 

 lumber and slats about four inches apart. 

 The outside rack c should be set out far 

 enough so the cattle can reach down easily 

 tc pick up the chaff. The bottom e may 

 be floored and this surrounded by a six- 

 inch board to guard against waste. 



