Upon a moment's reflection it becomes apparent that 

 this should be the case, for the following reasons: 



The parts of the plant outside the ear which have a real 

 nutritive value worth considering are the blades, the husks, 

 and the finer portion of the stalk near the tassel when this 

 has not been too badly weathered. All of these parts are 

 more readily available to the animal and are in a form quite 

 as convenient for consumption and utilization before being 

 shredded as afterwards. The tearing into shreds of these 

 parts of the plant does not in any way apparently improve 

 their palatability, enhance their feeding value, or materially 

 reduce the labor necessary to be expended by the animal in 

 masticating and digesting them. 



One other portion of the plant which, when finely 

 ground, has considerable nutritive value is the hard shell or 

 case surrounding the stalk. In its natural state, however, 

 it is practically worthless, for the reason that animals, unless 

 driven almost to the point of starvation, will not eat it. 

 The tearing of it into slivers, as is the case when stover is 

 shredded is not sufficient. The animals will, when nourish- 

 ed to the ordinary degree, still refuse to eat this part of the 

 plant. To make this shell available, it is necessary to re- 

 duce it to something near the consistency of sawdust or 

 bran. The cost of this process is of course wholly out of 

 proportion to the value of the product obtained. 



The portion of the plant encased by this shell, com- 

 monly known as the pith, is made very much more available 

 to the animal by the shredding process. This pith, however, 

 is almost pure cellulose, and is wholly unpalatable to 

 animals except on the verge of starvation, and from every 

 point is, to say the least, practically worthless as a feed, and 

 the animal, if given the opportunity, will discard it. The 

 shredding of the stover so intermingles the blades, husks, 

 outer shell, and pith of the plant as to give the animal less 

 opportunity for the selection of those portions which are 

 palatable and for the discarding of the others than when 

 the plant is fed whole. Therefore even against the wishes 

 and perhaps welfare of the animal, it is forced to eat more 

 or less of the pith. 



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