270 



GENESEE FARMER. 



Not. 



Corn and Cob Meal. 



Much diversity of opinion seems to prevail 

 as regards the value of cob-meal, for food for 

 cattle, horses and hogs. It has been the opinion 

 of most farmers that the cobs of corn were of 

 little or no value, and they have either been 

 used for fuel, or thrown aaide as of but little use 

 except for manure. We have for a long time 

 been much in favor of corn and cob meal, not 

 only from our own expedience but that of others. 

 It is a great saving in point of economy ; and it 

 is generally asserted that horses, mules and cattle 

 are not near as subject to cholic when fed on 

 this kind of meal. Corn meal in its pure state, 

 is generally considered too heating and too con- 

 centrated, particularly for working horses, but 

 when mixed with the cob forms a very superior 

 and nutricious food. It is supposed to act me- 

 chanically, tO'>, by distending the stomach, by 

 which digestion is rendered much easier and 

 more perfect. Il renders the meal more light 

 and bulky when well mixed with the grain, by 

 which the meal is more thoroughly acted upon 

 by the gastric juice of the stomach, consequently 

 more perfectly digested. 



When it is considered how many thousands of 

 bushels of corn cobs are annually thrown away, 

 or wastefully used for fuel, it becomes a matter 

 of deep interest to every farmer to know the 

 value this ofliil of the farm is entitled to as food 

 for cattle. 



As to the benefit of grinding the corii with the 

 cob, we think it varies wilh the nature of the 

 corn — being greatest with the hardest and naost 

 flinty varieties. 



By a nicely conducted experiment made some 

 years since, by P. Minor, of Virginia, it was 

 ascertained that five bushels of cobs yielded four 

 gallons of spirit. But this experiment does not 

 settle the question as to how much nutriment 

 the cobs contain. Besides the principle of alco- 

 hol to be found in dtW grain, and most vegetables, 

 there are other substances, or principles in all, 

 possessing nutritive qualities, among which may 

 be enunerated the saccharine and oleaginous 

 properties infinitely valuable, as these are 

 known to be active agents in the production of 

 fat, et cetera. 



By an analysis, which is now being made in 

 the laboratory of Dr. Emmons, by Mr. Salisbury, 

 we are informed that the cob affords two per 

 cent of albumen and casein, besides other nu- 

 tritive matter. 



The opinion expressed of those who have 

 given it a fair trial, is altogether in its favor. 

 "We cannot," says the editor of the American 

 Agriculturist, "too earnestly call the attention 

 of our readers in those jiortions of the Union 

 where labor is cheap and fuel dear, and mills 

 are found for the purpose, to the importance of 

 grinding or crushing their corn cobs for horses,! 



cattle and sheep, and when it can be cooked, for 

 swine also. Sufiicient experiments have been 

 made to establish the great benefits of them 

 when so used in projwrtion to their weight. 

 Boiling or fermenting them after crushing adds 

 to their value." 



PMs. Corn and Cob Mill. 



We advise therefoi-e, that every farmer ths^t 

 raises ten acres of corn should 'save his corn- 

 cobs for his cattle, and that to render them avail- 

 able he should provide himself with the means 

 of reducing them to meal, if not that of cooking 

 them also. 



Since the introduction of horse-powers, mills 

 for grinding feed for stock have been in request. 

 In 1842, at the Fair of the New York Stale 

 Agricultural Society, several mills were exhib- 

 ited for reducing corn and cobs to meal, among 

 which one was exhibited by O. Hussey, of Bal- 

 timore, of his own invention, which took the 

 first premium. This mill we have now in our 

 possession, and has been in use for the last six 

 years, without any repair, only renewing the 

 grinders, as they wear out, at the trifling cost of 

 about 80 cents a set. It will grind corn, oats 

 and peas, as well as corn and cob, sufficiently 

 fine for feeding stock. It requires the power of 

 two horses to do good work. 



We have also one of Pitt's corn and cob cut- 

 ters, (a figure of which is given above,) which 

 we have had in use two years, which require?; 

 less power, and works equally well, whether 

 the corn be soft or hard. It consists of a cast- 

 iron wheel about 9 inches in diameter, the rim 

 4 inches wide, armed with a series of small 

 chisel-shaped teeth or knives, set like plane-irons 

 in the face, in a very simple manner; one set 

 of teeth following in the space of the others, 

 alternately, by which the chipping is done. 

 These knives can be taken out, ground and re- 

 placed in a i'ew moments ; and a new set can 

 be obtained for tsvo dollars and fif^y cents.. If 



