Feeds for the Horse. 



277 



434. Sorghum hay. — Forage from the sweet sorghums, when 

 properly cured, is superior to corn forage for horses. It usually de- 

 teriorates rapidly in value after midwinter unless well cured and 

 kept in a dry place. Mold}^, decajang sorghum forage is especially 

 dangerous to horses. Kafir, tho not quite so palatable as the sweet 

 sorghums, is extensively and profitably used for horse feeding over 

 a large region in the southwestern United States. The Oklahoma 

 Station^ found kafir stover equal in feeding value to corn stover. (222) 



435. Corn forage. — Thickly grown fodder corn and corn stover, 

 when properly cured and cared for, are among the best of roughages 

 for the horse. Corn leaves are usually quite free from dust, pal- 

 atable, and full of nutriment. For stallions, brood mares, idle horses, 

 and growing colts good corn forage is usually a most economical and 

 helpful substitute for timothy hay. When the yield of fodder corn 

 and its feeding value are compared with that of the timothy hay' 

 from a like area, the usefulness and economy of this much neglected 

 forage is apparent. The cured corn plant should be much more 

 generally used in America for horse feeding than it now is. (217) 



436. Corn stover v. timothy hay.— At the New Hampshire Sta- 

 tion^ Burkett fed 4 farm horses in winter on oats, bran, and corn 

 for concentrates, giving 2 horses 12 lbs. each of timothy hay daily 

 for roughage, while 2 others received the same weight of fine-cut 

 corn stover. The table shows the average results for the period cov- 

 ering January to April : 



Since the stover-fed horses did a little more work than the others 

 and gained but slightly less, cut corn stover may be regarded as equal 

 to timothy hay in this trial. Since timothy hay sells for from 2 to 4 

 times as much as stover, the great economy in using stover is ap- 

 parent. 



Rpt. 1899. 



Bui. 



