FODDER CORN 83 



When corn is to be hogged off, it is a very common prac- 

 tice to sow rape, cowpeas, or some other crop between the 

 corn rows just previous to the last cultivation of the crop and 

 allow the hogs to pasture the green feed thus produced with 

 the corn. .This makes a more balanced ration than the corn 

 alone, and adds to the total feed produced to the acre. 



FODDER CORN 



101. Definitions. Fodder corn is corn that is grown for 

 the purpose of feeding the whole plant — stalks, leaves, and 

 ears — to hve stock. Such corn is usually planted more 

 thickly than ordinary field corn, so that the stalks will be 

 comparatively fine and the ears few and small. Bundle 

 corn is corn that has been grown for ears, but cut, shocked 

 and fed out of the bundle in the same manner as fodder corn 

 is usually fed. Such corn usually has coarser stalks and a 

 larger proportion of ears than fodder corn. Corn stover 

 is the stalks of corn from which the ears have been husked 

 and the stalks left to be fed out of the bundle or shredded. 



102. Value of Com Fodder. Corn is such a thrifty, 

 quick-growing plant that there are few other common crops 

 which can compete with it in the total production of feed to 

 the acre. Owing to its quick, vigorous growth and its 

 palatability, corn is very largely used as a forage crop. 

 Corn fodder, properly grown, is more succulent than corn 

 stover or hay. On this account it is more palatable than 

 these common dry feeds, and is an excellent product to use 

 as part of the roughage for live stock. It is worth $6 a ton 

 for feeding when clover hay is worth $8.80 a ton. A fair 

 yield is from 2}^ to 4 tons to the acre. Larger yields are 

 sometimes obtained on very productive land. 



103. Importance. So far as its feeding value and yield 

 are concerned, fodder corn is an excellent crop to grow, but 

 on the general farm it does not have a verj^ large place, owing 

 to the fact that it is not a soil-building crop as are clover, 



