GETTING THE MOST FROM FEEDS 91 
time for cutting is between the time of blossoming and 
seed forming. The nutritious compounds at this time 
are distributed throughout the plants, and there is cor- 
respondingly less woody tissue. If cut when the plants 
are in blossom the yield will be less than at a period a 
little later. 
12. Shall grain be ground?—Grain feeds are most 
digestible if ground. Corn, oats, wheat and other grains 
often are so hard that if passed into 
the stomach without mastication the 
digestive juices fail in their duty. 
But it does not follow that it is good 
business management to grind feeds. 
Experiments show that when corn, 
for instance, is ground the returns 
are increased from 8 to 15 per cent; 
yet the labor of hauling to and from 
the mill or of grinding the grain at 
home may mean a loss in the end. 
The custom of following cattle and 
horses with pigs to pick up the un- 
digested grain or other food is both 
wise and profitable, and satisfactorily meets this condition. 
FEED GRINDER 
13. Double value in feeds.—All feeding stuffs have two 
values—feed and fertility. The man who buys concen- 
trated feeds rich in protein gains by the enterprise, but 
the men lose who produce and sell them. By disposing 
of these valuable food products farmers really sell the 
plant food of their lands. When animal products are 
sold the drain on the land is not large, but if grain crops 
are sold much plant food is withdrawn from the soil. 
The farmer who sells a ton of clover hay withdraws from his 
soil $8.72 worth of fertility. This is half as much as he receives. 
If, on the other hand, he sells a ton of pork, he sends from his farm 
