masticating, digesting and assimilating it, leaving nothing 

 for production. In the case of this pith it is possible that it 

 is even so poor as to have a negative value. That is, the 

 amount of nutriment that the animal can derive from it is 

 smaller than the energy required to get it out. Instead, 

 therefore, of this material nourishing the system, it is not 

 unreasonable to suppose that it is a tax upon it. 



Relative Amounts of Shredded and Whole Stover 



Refused 



It is commonly supposed by those who have had no 

 experience in the matter that in order to induce the stock 

 to eat the whole of the corn stover it is only necessary to 

 shred it. Our results show that almost as much of the 

 material was refused by the animals when shredded as when 

 fed whole, notwithstanding the fact that the animals were 

 offered a considerably less quantity of the shredded than of 

 the whole material. In the first trial the per cent of whole 

 stover refused was 45.78; of the shredded, 38.67. 



In the second trial the per cent of whole stover refused 

 was 42.45; of the shredded stover, 32.91. 



In the light of these facts, it does not appear that the 

 outlay of labor and money for the shredding of stover can 

 be justified on the ground of enhancement of its feeding 

 value. It is safe to say that this is too cheap a material in 

 the corn belt to warrant the expenditure of much money in an 

 attempt at increasing its feeding value. The investment of 

 this extra money in cutting up and saving more stover will 

 undoubtedly bring better returns than in attempting to im- 

 prove the quality of the quantity that is now ordinarily 

 harvested and saved. 



It does not necessarily follow from this that shredding 

 is an unwarranted practice. If the corn may be husked and 

 the stover shredded at a very slight increase in cost over 

 that of husking by hand, the practice must commend itself 

 to every farmer, on account of the greater convenience with 

 which the material may be handled and fed, and the ability 

 to preserve the material from damage by rains, etc. Not 

 only so, but the greatest single objection to the present 



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