378 CORN 



the wind blowing the leaves away. This brings up the question ol 

 shredding as a means of saving and preservation. 



Henry Wallace, of Wallace's Farmer, writes that 2 tons of 

 shredded fodder in the early fall are worth 3 in the field, February 

 I St, exposed to the weather, provided, of course, that the early shred- 

 ded fodder was put in the barn free from dew or rain. It is the rain 

 and dew on stored hay and fodder and not the sap they contain that 

 makes conditions favorable for the action of bacteria, restilting in fer- 

 mentation. 



Henry's "Feeds and Feeding" has the following paragraph on the 

 subject of "Loss in Fodder:" 



"We are told of a loss of nearly one-fourth of dry matter and pro- 

 tein which the crop contained at harvest time, by preserving corn 

 forage in the usual manner. This seems incredible, but the subject 

 has been studied by too many Stations with unanimity of results to 

 admit of further question. Cooke has shown that heavy losses occur 

 in shock corn in the dry climate of Colorado. The substances lost 

 through wasting are protein and nitrogen-free extract (sugar, starch, 

 etc.), the more valuable portions of the forage. Now, it is not possible 

 to entirely prevent the losses by placing the cured fodder under shelter 

 or in the stack, for it has been found that the forage continues to 

 waste even under these favorable conditions.'' 



FEEDING VALUE OF CORN FODDER. Fodder corn grown 

 so thickly as to allow only the formation of nubbins, furnishes for the 

 farmer one of the cheapest and best forms of roughage obtainable for 

 horses, mules and colts. Green corn fodder when fed in liberal 

 quantities to work horses during the late summer months is greedily 

 eaten. During the winter months the farmer will find that the colts 

 relish good green corn fodder much better than do the cattle. It is less 

 dusty and there is much less danger in feeding it to horses than there 

 is in feeding musty hay. The leaves contain considerable nutriment 

 and will be entirely cleaned up when fed in the manger, rack, or in the 

 open upon the frozen ground. When the farmer compares the value 

 of corn fodder in contrast to timothy hay, considering the amount that 

 may be grown, he must come to the conclusion that it is one of the 

 most economical as well as most nutritious forms of roughage that can 

 be produced upon the farm. 



Corn fodder also furnishes one of the best substitutes for ensilage 

 that has yet been found. When corn fodder is harvested at the right 



