114 PROFITABLE STOCK RAISING 



American farm. The amount of first-class fodder 

 which goes to waste every year in the corn fields 

 of the Mississippi valley, if preserved either as 

 forage or silage, would support many thousands of 

 additional meat animals, which are now so sorely 

 needed in the markets of the country. Much ma- 

 terial that is now little valued really has definite 

 feeding value, and ought to be utilized as such. 

 There are annually many thousands of bushels of 

 soft corn produced on account of unfavorable 

 weather conditions, early frosts and other causes. 

 There is a common idea that soft corn, and like- 

 wise light oats are very poor feed. The amounts 

 fed of either should be measured by weight, not 

 by bulk, and with soft corn the basis of computa- 

 tion should be its dry matter. It seems to be a 

 general principle that different grades and qualities 

 of corn and of oats, really have practically the same 

 feeding value for each pound of dry matter, pro- 

 vided the grain has not been injured by mold or 

 decay. The Iowa experiment station discovered in 

 feeding corn of the 1902 crop to cattle, that a pound 

 of dry matter in soft corn was practically equal to a 

 pound of dry matter in sound corn for feeding to 

 fattening steers. The New Hampshire experiment 

 station has recently discovered that pound for 

 pound, light oats are only a possible shade inferior 

 to heavy oats for horse feeding. The real feeding 

 value of grain of this character is greater than 

 farmers generally suppose. 



Many American farmers are raising grain with 

 the fixed intention of hauling it to the elevator for 

 sale. Every crop removed thus from the farm de- 

 tracts just that much from the available fertility of 

 the soil, because that much material is gone and 

 can never be regained except by direct purchase. 



