162 FEEDS AND FEEDING, ABRIDGED 



cut material in the silo, it can be distributed more evenly if a stream 

 is run into the blower, and then more water sprinkled over the cut 

 fodder in the silo as it is filled. Due to the widely varying water con- 

 tent of field-cured corn forage, it is impossible to state definitely the 

 amount of water to be added. Some recommend adding about an 

 equal weight of water to the forage, others add just enough so that 

 water may be squeezed out of the cut material. 



Dry corn fodder. — Tho not as palatable and valuable as corn silage, 

 corn grown thickly and cured as dry fodder while the leaves are yet 

 green makes a coarse hay of high feeding value. Such fodder, with 

 bright, nutritious leaves and small palatable ears that are easily mas- 

 ticated, has a value not as yet appreciated by most stockmen. Over- 

 looking the splendid qualities of corn as a forage plant, too many 

 farmers have become accustomed to growing this giant grass for the 

 grain it yields, using the stover as a straw to be fed or wasted as acci- 

 dent determines. 



As it is low in protein, corn fodder gives the best results when 

 legume hay forms part of the roughage, such combination giving 

 excellent results with dairy cows, beef cattle, and sheep. Com fodder 

 is also an economical substitute for timothy hay with idle horses, 

 brood mares, and growing colts. Com fodder and stover should be 

 placed in large, well-made shocks, to reduce the losses by weathering. 

 Since the stalks stand almost vertical in the shocks, as the leaves wilt 

 there is ample room for the upward passage of air currents, which 

 rapidly dry the interior and check molds and fermentations. When 

 shock corn is pronounced "dry" by the farmer, it usually carries 

 more water and consequently less dry matter than hay, a fact which 

 should not be overlooked when feeding this forage. Care must be 

 taken that corn fodder or stover is well-cured before it is stacked, and 

 especially before it is stored in the mow, for musty, moldy forage is 

 not only unpalatable but even dangerous. In districts of the South 

 where it is exceedingly difficult to cure corn forage, the silo is par- 

 ticularly useful. 



Shock corn, — Rather than husking corn and feeding the grain and 

 stover separately, it is often more profitable to feed shock corn, the 

 animals doing their own husking. This is especially true for animals 

 which need only a small grain allowance, such as cattle being carried 

 thru the winter and idle horses. Shock com may also be successfully 

 fed to fattening cattle and sheep, particularly at the beginning of 

 the fattening period, and to a less extent to dairy cows. It is true 

 that when fed unhusked some com passes thru the animal unbroken, 

 but feeding trials show that, despite such waste, there is often little or 

 no profit in husking the ear and reducing it to meal. A little study 



