260 FEEDING FARM ANIMALS 



To calves and young cattle, corn must be fed with some 

 reserve, owing to its carbonaceous character, unless when 

 they are to be fattened. It may then be made the principal, 

 almost the sole grain food fed, otherwise it should not as a 

 rule form more than .one-third to one-half the grain fed, the 

 balance being preferably oats and bran. The latter quan- 

 tity is only admissible when fed along with legumes or 

 what is better, with these and field roots. 



For cattle that are being fattened, corn is par excel- 

 lence the food. It is not only much relished but it is much 

 laden with starch, well calculated to fill the tissues of the 

 body with fat. It may be used as the sole grain food- or as 

 any part of it, according to the nature of the other food fac- 

 tors. In the corn belt, it has been much used as the sole ra- 

 tion, the stalks supplying the roughage, but this method is 

 only admissible when the prices of grain rule low, as it is 

 not a balanced food. It is fed to such cattle as corn meal, 

 corn and cob meal, the ears snapped, as shock corn and 

 sometimes soaked. When fed with clover or alfalfa, corn 

 may legitimately form 75 to 90 per cent of the concentrated 

 food, the balance being some food rich in protein, as cotton- 

 seed meal, oil cake, bran or gluten meal. When the grain is 

 fed whole, swine are made to glean amid the droppings to 

 consume the corn that has escaped being digested. 



For cozvs in milk, corn will easily maintain its position 

 as the basic ration, in localities where it grows readily. It 

 can be produced cheaply, and in the form of silage furnishes 

 the necessary succulence. More commonly the grain is fed 

 to cows in the form of corn meal or corn and cob meal, but 

 sometimes it is fed as shock corn, more especially when the 

 fodder is not coarse. When thus fed, it is usually necessary 

 to add more grain, as in the case of feeding silage. It is sel- 

 dom wise to make corn comprise more than 50 per cent of 

 the grain fed, even when a legume is used as fodder. 



For sheep that are being fattened, corn is equally as 

 good as for fattening cattle. For winter lambs, fed as meal 

 or cracked, along with 20 per cent of oil meal, the gains 



