No. 5. 



Grinding Corn in the Ear. 



155 



Grinding Corn in the Ear. 



That a great saving would be made in 

 feeding corn meal, by grinding the cob with 

 the grain, might be reasonably inferred from 

 the fact, that when corn meal is fed to horses 

 it requires to be mixed with some coarser 

 food, such as cut straw or hay ; and that so 

 mixed, a smaller quantity causes the animal 

 to thrive better, and perform work as well as 

 a larger quantity of meal without such mix- 

 ture would. Pure corn meal does not appear 

 sufficiently to distend the stomach to bring 

 into exercise its digestive faculties fully, 

 without taking so much as to clog that organ 

 and impair its functions eventually. For this 

 reason, a mixture of less nutritive materials 

 is desirable ; and one of our n)ost successful 

 feeders of pork fias assured us, that he always 

 mixed oats with his corn, in the proportion of 

 one-fourth, previous to grinding, and thinks 

 he should find a profit in exchanging corn for 

 oats, bushel for bushel, rather than feed the 

 former to his pigs clear. It appears, from 

 recorded experiments, that the cob, though 

 doubtless possessing no inconsiderable portion 

 of nutriment in itself, makes about the requi- 

 site mixture with the grain, and hence is of 

 great value for the purpose of feeding. 



In the N. E. Farmer, for 1825, may be 

 found a communication from the Rev. H. C. 

 Perley, giving the history of some experi- 

 ments made by him in feeding with corn and 

 cob meal. Mr. Perley broke his corn and 

 cobs together by pounding, and the mixture 

 was then ground in common corn millstones. 

 " Meal made of this composition, I scalded, 

 and made about as thick as common hasty- 

 pudding; or mixed about one peck of meal 

 with three pecks of boiled potatoes, thickened 

 to the consistency of pudding. With this 

 kind of food and what wash was made in the 

 family, I constantly fed my swine; there 

 were none in the neighbourhood grew so fast, 

 or were fit to kill so early in the autumn. 

 The neighbours were surprised that my hogs 

 looked so white and grew so well, being fed 

 as they were, with cob meal, potatoes, and 

 the wash of four cow^s. Some ridiculed the 

 notion, others disputed and disbelieved the 

 account; but finally, all were obliged to be- 

 lieve the fact, though reluctant to repeat the 

 experiment. I am this year using the same 

 discovery and process of cob meal, and can 

 show better swine than any of my neighbours 

 can produce of thesame age." 



According to Dr. Mease, the practice of 

 grinding corn with the cob, is common among 

 the German inhabitants of Pennsylvania. He 

 says, " corn meal alone is too nourishing or 

 heating, and it is, therefore, by those who use 

 it, mixed with a portion of cut straw, and 

 coarsely ground rye or shorts, and in this 

 state constitutes the daily food of that fine 



body of draught horses that do so much credit 

 to our carters and draymen of Philadelphia, 

 and the industrious farmers of the State at 

 large." 



In the Mass. Agric. Reports, for 1823, is a 

 communication from Mr. Rice, of Shrews- 

 bury, on the subject of feeding cattle, which 

 constituted a part of his business, in the 

 course of which he gives an account of one 

 of his experiments in using cob meal. 



"The second year, if I mistake not, in 

 which I made use of cob meal, I thought I 

 would try an experiment by feeding one ox 

 with corn and oats ground, the other with 

 corn and cobs, having a yoke of oxen so even 

 matched, that no one who viewed them was 

 satisfied which was the best; accordingly I 

 fed them as above. The cob is computed to 

 make a little more than one-third, therefore 

 I mixed the other with one-third oats as was 

 my former mode. I gave each ox an equal 

 quantity at a time, except the one which had 

 corn and oats sometimes became dainty, and 

 would not eat his allowance, while the other 

 kept a regular course. The allowance for 

 both was a little over three pecks per day. 

 When taken to market and killed, they weigh- 

 ed twenty-eight hundred and a half; the one 

 fed on corn and oats weighing half a hundred 

 the most, while the one fed on corn and cob 

 meal was considered half a dollar per cwt. 

 the best beef The one fed on corn and cobs 

 had 163 lbs. of tallow, the other 162 lbs." 



From this, and other experiments, it would 

 seem that cobs ground with corn, add to its 

 value for the purposes of feedmg, nearly or 

 quite as much as would the same quantity of 

 oats. If such is the case, there can be little 

 room for doubt as to the propriety of making 

 the practice of grinding the cob with the corn 

 genera), where this grain is used for feeding. 



In some parts of the country a common 

 pair of millstones are used, the opening in 

 the upper being made larger than usual, and 

 the stones being more bosomed out, or made 

 to fit less close in the inner part, than when 

 used for grain. It is believed that corn in 

 the cob might be broken sufficiently fine in a 

 common iron bark-mill, to admit being ground 

 in ordinary mill-stones without difficulty. We 

 should think that in any district where Indian- 

 corn is extensively grown, a miller would 

 find it for his interest to attach a cob-cracker 

 to his machinery, as we are confident the 

 farmers would find themselves well repaid by 

 the great saving and superiority of the meal 

 so made, for feeding. — Cultivator. 



" The task of working improvement on the 

 earth is much more delightful than all the 

 vainglory which can be acquired by ravaging 

 it with the most uninterrupted career of con- 

 quests." — Washington. 



