382 FEEDS AND FEEDING 



IV. CARBONACEOUS ROUGHAGES 



620. Corn fodder. Tho inferior to corn silage, good corn fodder, espe- 

 cially that from thickly planted corn, is relished by cows and is a satis- 

 factory substitute for hay from the grasses. (302) Instead of being 

 fed as the sole roughage, it should preferably be used with legume hay. 

 In a trial by Hunt and Caldwell at the Pennsylvania Station 86 corn 

 fodder proved almost as valuable as the same weight of timothy hay. 

 Two tons of timothy hay per acre is a high return, while the yield of 

 the fodder corn used in this trial was nearly 4.5 tons per acre, or over 

 twice that of the timothy hay. 



621. Corn fodder with alfalfa hay. The value of corn fodder when fed 

 in combination with legume hay is shown in trials by Linfield at the 

 Utah Station. 87 Averaging together the results of 4 trials, we find that 

 cows fed a ration of 8.7 Ibs. corn fodder, 11.5 Ibs. alfalfa hay, 3 Ibs. of 

 wheat bran, and 3 Ibs. of either wheat, barley, or corn meal produced 

 about as much milk and butter fat as when the same concentrates were 

 fed with 21.5 Ibs. alfalfa hay for roughage. When combined with al- 

 falfa hay, a limited amount of corn fodder was worth as much as the 

 alfalfa hay, pound for pound. 



622. Corn stover Bright, well-cured corn stover is a fairly palatable 

 feed for cattle. Tho it is too low in nutrients to form the chief part 

 of the roughage allowance for high-producing cows, a limited amount 

 of good stover may often be fed with economy, even to dairy cows. (304) 

 In trials by Henry at the Wisconsin Station 88 1 ton of mixed clover and 

 timothy hay proved equal to 3 tons of uncut corn stover, and 1 ton of 

 clear clover hay was somewhat more valuable than 3 tons of stover. 

 Thirty-four per ct. of the coarse, uncut stover was left uneaten in these 

 trials. If the stover had been shredded, considerably less would have 

 been wasted. (305) As is pointed out later, corn stover silage (made 

 from field-cured stover) is much more palatable than dry corn stover 

 and is consumed with much less waste. (632) 



623. Timothy hay. While timothy hay is a standard and most satis- 

 factory roughage for the horse, it is unsatisfactory for the dairy cow. 

 It lacks protein, is not very palatable to cows, and has a constipating 

 effect quite opposite to the beneficial action of legume hay. (312) The 

 value of mixed clover and timothy hay for cows will depend on the 

 proportion of clover present. 



To demonstrate the poor results secured when timothy hay is fed with 

 other feeds likewise low in protein, Fraser and Hayden of the Illinois 

 Station 89 conducted a trial on a dairy farm in which 2 lots each of 8 

 cows were fed by the reversal method for two 42-day periods. The cows 

 were given 12.5 Ibs. per head daily of a concentrate mixture of 2.5 parts 

 corn meal and 1 part wheat bran, with the roughages shown in the table : 



8e Penn. Rpt. 1892. ^Wis. Rpt. 1884. 



"Utah Bui. 68. "111. Bui. 146. 



