744 



MAIZE 



XV. 



chap, "fodder" or "shocked corn," is largely practised in the North 

 Atlantic and Southern States, and in parts of the North Cen- 

 tral States, and has been successfully adopted by a few South 

 African farmers for several years. By maize "fodder" we 

 mean the whole plant as taken direct from the " shock" with- 

 out husking, thus supplying in one both concentrated food 

 and roughage, and with a minimum of labour. 



" The fodder, with its wealth of ears, is thrown into long 

 feed racks standing in an open lot or under a shed, the steers 

 doing the husking and grinding" (Henry, i). 



This method is largely employed in the fattening of beet 

 for the large American markets. 



Maize fodder has a higher feeding value than maize stover, 

 but slightly lower than maize silage ; it is less palatable than 

 the latter, and there is a larger amount of waste in feeding. 



707. Maize Fodder for Dairy Cozes. — The Pennsylvania 

 Station {Rep. 1892) tested the feeding value of maize fodder 

 for dairy cows, as compared with timothy hay. More milk 

 was obtained from the timothy but more butter from the 

 maize fodder. The cows fed on the timothy gained in weight, 

 while those on maize fodder lost. The cows ate about 

 3 per cent more of the hay than of the maize fodder. " The 

 trials show these two feeds to be substantially equal, pound 

 for pound." From this the high value of maize fodder is 

 apparent ; for while 4,000 lbs. of timothy hay per acre is con- 

 sidered a good return, the maize fodder used in the trial 

 yielded at the rate of 8,885 lbs. per acre. The trial suggests 

 the possibility that timothy hay conduces to the storage of fat 

 in the body of the cow, while maize fodder turns the fat into 

 milk (Henry, \). 



708. Maize Fodder for Bullocks. — Stewart (1, p. 31 1) re- 

 ports a trial conducted by himself with ten steers averaging 

 1,175 lbs. weight each, which were fed 4 measured acres of 

 shock-maize, estimated to yield 40 bushels (11 -2 muids) of 

 grain per acre. The unhusked shock-maize was passed through 

 a feed cutter, and 40 lbs. of the mixture, with 2 lbs. of linseed 

 meal, was fed daily. The 4 acres kept the 10 steers, or an 

 average of 2-5 steers per acre, for 70 days, each steer gain- 

 ing 200 lbs., on the average, in that time. Making allowance 



