758 
THE RURAL NEW-YORKER. 
November 16 
among the tax-paying 1 Indians. These Indians culti¬ 
vated. on their own account, 288,613 acres, and sold 
articles valued at SI.507.072. 
Perhaps the most interesting part of the statistics is 
that referring to the Indian Territory. The Indian 
population in 1890 was 51,279. There are two white 
men to every Indian, but they are mere campers or 
intruders, as they can obtain no land by purchase. 
The Indians own 25.906,862 acres of land, and are 
prospering as farmers aiid stockmen. In fact, the 
last few years seem to indicate that the Indian has a 
future in this land as a farmer, if not in the so-called 
professions. “ Civilization ” went at him first in the 
wrong way—with liquor and disease—as its chief 
agents. The later plan of working on the younger 
generation with education, fair treatment and honest 
examples, will work better and give more satisfac¬ 
tory results. 
Our two pictures show two stages of Indian devel¬ 
opment. They were taken on an agency in Washing¬ 
ton. Some one may say that the lower one is but 
little removed from the old plan of living in a wig¬ 
wam. There is progress, however, and the chances 
are that some of your ancestors lived in a worse 
house than that ! Above is the house of a younger 
man. It may not be as good as yours, but it shows 
still more progress ! So it will go on if the right in¬ 
fluences are put in the way of younger Indians. We 
don’t believe in this idea of sitting down and saying 
that the younger generation of any race is doomed 
to degeneracy and decay. If they do degenerate, it 
will not be because they are doomed, but because 
the people of a “higher civilization ” fail to do their 
duty. _ 
"CORN HAY” IN THREE STATES. 
that's what they call shredded corn fodder. 
Tough Stalks Made More Eatable. 
Take a corn plant—stalk and ear ! Chemists tell us 
that there is as much nutriment in the stalk as there is 
in the grain. In the older States, the stalks are saved 
with more or less care, for feeding. In the great corn 
growing States, a vast proportion of the stalk crop is 
wasted. Great areas are grown, and hand labor is too 
high Until within a few years, cutting and husking 
were all done by hand. Machines were devised for 
harvesting all other grains, but corn grew on such a 
sturdy stalk that the machines were not capable of 
handling it. Recently, however, inventive genius has 
conquered the difficulties. Corn harvesters now do 
the work of 20 men with cutting knives, and follow¬ 
ing the harvester has come the husker and shredder 
to save further hand work and prepare the formerly 
wasted stalk for stock food. These machines operate 
like the thrashing machines for wheat. The whole 
stalk is fed in at one end. the ear is snapped off and 
husked, and leaves and butts are cut, crushed and 
broken into a soft, fine mass that is poured out like 
straw. In order to learn just what place these 
machines are to occupy in farm economy, we have 
secured opinions from various parts of the West. 
These from three States are given this week. Others 
may follow. 
What Can Be Done with the Fodder? 
Corn buskers have operated here during the past 
two years, but the probabilities are that they will 
not be used as much this fall. Though they husk the 
corn and shred the fodder very well, yet that is not 
the whole story. First, their work is too costly ; ttie 
same set of men that it takes to run one of the ma¬ 
chines, can go into the fields and husk and crib more 
corn than the machine can ; so a very high value has 
to be put on the shredded fodder to figure out a profit. 
That might be all, right, though, if it were the only 
way to get the fodder to use ; but I find that 1 can 
husk and crib the corn by hand, and then run the 
fodder through my two-horse cutter, can do as good 
or a better job, and can do it cheaper. The shredded 
fodder is not better to feed than the cut. In addition, 
1 have a better chance to pick suitable days for the 
work, and am not compelled to have it done just when 
the machine comes around. 1 can cut a little as 
needed during the fall to use while the rest is curing, 
and then can do the bulk of the work along in 
December. 
Rut the second and great trouble is the sweat that 
the fodder will go through. In this neighborhood, it 
is always put in the barn. I saw one loft full last 
fall, that had come out of the sweat in perfect condi¬ 
tion, but only one. The others looked at, including 
my own, which was cut, were more or less damaged. 
Sometimes the escaping moisture made “chimneys” 
causing damaged spots in the fodder. One mow was 
a rotten mass with toadstools growing on it. Part of 
this poor success was probably owing to the season, 
the August rains causing a late growth that got frost¬ 
bitten and refused to cure, and partly to poor man¬ 
agement; but after making all allowances possible, 
the stubborn fact remains that fodder when cut or 
shredded and put in any bulk, is very likely to heat 
and spoil. It takes a rare combination of skill and 
favorable circumstances to have it come out right. 
When a man has experimented in a small way with 
cut or shredded fodder, it is very easy to get enthusi¬ 
astic over the possibilities of the feed : but when 
operations are undertaken on a scale which is neces¬ 
sary to make possible the economical use of a shredder, 
then new problems arise. 
I am getting around to the belief that for the small 
farmer, the fodder cutter is the best way out, espe¬ 
cially as most of his fodder corn need not be husked, 
thereby making the work still cheaper. For the 
large farmer, the silo is the thing. Still, these are 
both open to the objection that the product is not 
marketable, and how to secure a market for our sur- 
plus fodder is the question that many Western farm¬ 
ers are now asking. 
A year ago there were a few bales of the shredded 
fodder made in this neighborhood, but what became 
of it I do not know. I have not heard yet of any 
sales being made, and am confident that the feed 
could not be sold in the large markets. It is easy to 
speculate, but in my opinion the difficulty of curing 
the shredded fodder will, for a long time, act as a 
serious interference in the way of establishing a trade 
for it. K. R. WATSON. 
Iowa. 
Mr. 7. Hay Is Going to the Wall. 
Corn husking machines are rapidly coming into use 
in this State, and I predict that, within the next five 
years, nine-tenths of all the corn cut for fodder will 
be shredded. These machines go about a neighbor¬ 
hood like thrashing machines, and do the work for 
farmers for 10 to 12>£ cents per shock of 256 hills. 
They work very rapidly, husking the corn as clean 
as the average hired man, dropping it into a wagon 
ready for the crib, reduce the fodder to the very best 
condition for feeding, and elevate it into a shed or 
barn loft. The fodder should be fairly dry, not 
stored in too great bulk, and it will keep all right. 
Many salt it as stored, much as our fathers used to 
salt hay when stacked. They claim that stock relish 
it better, and that the}^ will drink more water, and 
thus prevent any evil effects if they happen to eat a 
little too much. There may be something in this. 
The fodder must be stored under rain-proof cover, or 
it will spoil quickly. Simply keep it off the ground 
and out of the rain. It is astonishing what a small 
space a dozen great, bulky shocks occupy when 
shredded. One is led to wonder what has become of 
it, anyway ! 
I never heard of any being baled or sold in market, 
but it will be before long. It will be as salable as 
hay when people generally learn its value as feed for 
milch cows. Some who have used it two or three 
years would rather have it than average Timothy hay 
at the same price. They claim that stock eat it 
cleaner, and thrive better. There’s a revolution just 
ahead—a revolution in corn harvesting. Mr. Hay is 
losing his prestige ! feed grundy. 
Illinois. 
The Whole Thing Reviewed in Indiana. 
The other day, I asked a farmer whether they had 
a fodder shredder in tha neighborhood. “ No, but we 
are talking strongly of one. In Koone County, where 
I once lived, they use them. I was back on a visit 
last spring, and when we put my horse up, Mr. - 
fed him shredded corn fodder.” 
“ How much fodder did he have in a pile ? ” 
" Oh ! it was run into a big mow by the carrier, and 
was 12 or 15 feet deep.” 
“ Was it moldy ? ” 
Not a bit : just as pretty and bright as good hay, 
and the horses and cows ate it, and my friend said 
that there was scarcely anything left for bedding. 
Sometimes a few splinters of the heavy butts were 
left, if stock were fed an abundance.” 
He and a few neighbors have used a machine for 
three years. The first year, they paid five cents a 
bushel, and the machine was crowded ; since then 
more machines have reduced it to four cents for the past 
two years. Hut if corn is very poor and fodder fairly 
good, they charge $1.50 an hour, or $15 a day.” 
“ \\ hat would it cost you to hire it shucked by 
hand ? ” 
“ If the fodder were set up without tying in bun¬ 
dles, it would cost 3cents a bushel.” 
“ Then at five cents a bushel, you pay 1% cent for 
shredding ; you must haul the fodder and crib the 
corn either way.” 
“ ^es, the shredded fodder doesn’t occupy so much 
space, and is as easily fed as hay. If the corn yields 
40 bushels of grain and two tons of stover per acre, we 
get the two tons of feed put in nice shape for 60 cents, 
or 30 cents a ton.” 
“ \\ by don’t you have yours shredded ? ” 
Hecause I and my son run a small farm and do our 
own work ; we can't get much outside work. It will 
piactically cost us no money out to shuck our own 
fodder, and the loss in feeding is only about one-third. 
We shall have plenty to carry us through anyhow, 
and to hire a machine to shuck the whole 20 acres at 
40 bushels per acre, would call for $40 in cash. If 1 
were full-handed, I would have every stalk on the 
farm shredded, and would try to sell some of it. As 
it is, I have no hay ; it failed in the drought, and I 
shall have enough shredded to feed during the crop¬ 
ping season next spring. You know that corn stalks 
whole get too dry and woody by spring.” 
Later I talked to an acquaintance about the shred¬ 
der. He said that his next neighbor used one last 
year, and liked it very much. “Is it difficult to keep 
the shredded fodder in bulk without molding ? ” 
“ If one wait for a damp time to handle the fodder, 
as we do in feeding it whole, it will heat and mold, 
and sometimes rot. One man cut some too damp, 
and it was damaged. Cattle ate it well when moldy, 
but it makes horses cough, and is not so good feed.” 
“ Do not the stalks break up badly, and waste if 
hauled to the machine dry ?” 
“In a windy day like this, it would blow every way, 
and should always be bound in bundles as cut; then 
it is not so bulky. They used low wagons and one 
man carried each armful right to its place on the rack 
instead of handing it to a second. In this way it 
does not break up nearly so badly.” 
“ Wouldn’t the corn harvesters be good for that 
machine to follow ?” 
“ Fine ! They used one this year, and every armful 
of the entire corn crop was tied with the machine. 
That will handle well dry, and not be so bulky, and 
the band is not a bit in the way. Our people have 
silos, and they like the shredded fodder as well as the 
ensilage.” 
“ How much will they shuck in a day ?” 
“ Some fodder has but little corn in it, and the 
machines are of various sizes. Their capacity varies 
from 200 to 600 bushels a day. The main trouble with 
the amount of corn shucked is that it is impossible to 
keep a uniform feed. A large, powerful machine will 
use an armful all the time, and if it could be fed 
steadily all day, one could hardly guess what it would 
do. This machine was fed carelessly, and sometimes 
a -dozen ears would be pinched off and fall on the 
shucking rollers at one time ; it should be fed more 
like wheat, that is, distributed a little. A good 
thrashing machine feeder aimed to keep the straw 
carrier of our old-fashioned machines uniformly cov¬ 
ered. He didn't chuck a whole bundle in at a time.” 
“ Will it shell corn badly, if dry ?” 
“ It shells a few grains off of the butts of some 
ears, and makes them look a little ragged. Hut if fed 
at home, it is no objection. You get all the grain, 
either on the ear or in the fodder.” 1 noticed at the 
fair, that a lattice work is made in the carrier so that 
much of the broken and whole grain drops out; and it 
was claimed that fodder can be shredded a little 
moister by this means, since the starchy grains cause 
it to heat worse. Fodder is ready for the shucker 
and shredder in a month to six weeks after cutting, 
according to the weather. Then a few farmers club 
together and go around as in wheat thrashing, and 
wait on the machine. The general opinion here is 
that the machines are too high-priced, the large ones 
costing $450, and that in a few years they will be 
within reach, and that corn harvesters will sell 
shortly at $85, instead of $125, as now. and that then 
the corn stover problem will be thoroughly solved. 
The silo men can fill silos for dairy cows if they 
wish, and our hay mows and barns can be readily 
used without additional expense for housing and 
feeding the fodder dry. The feeding value of the 
stover is about equal to that of the ear in good corn, 
but heretofore it has been a disagreeable thing to 
feed—slovenly, wasteful, mean to store, and ugly in 
the manure pile. We formerly cut a little fodder to 
help out our hay, and for roughness in winter ; but 
since the new machinery has made it desirable to save 
the whole crop, farmers are asking one another 
whether frost hurts fodder, and whether it is good 
after it dries in the field. To secure answers to these 
questions for our farmers’ club, I wrote for in¬ 
formation, and Prof. Plumb, of Purdue, wrote me as 
follows : 
The damage to fodder by a killing frost depends upon the con¬ 
dition of growth of the plant. If the grain is mature, and the 
foliage has begun to dry and turn brown, the loss is small. The 
greener the plant, the greater the loss. In the only experiments 
of which I know, in which some corn was harvested and placed 
in the barn before frost, and some left in the field, analyses 
showed a very small loss, the barn sample containing 4.91 per 
cent protein, and the field sample 4.78 percent. The field corn 
had not been rained on before the analysis was made. No very 
material changes probably occur simply due to the frosts. The 
constant washing of fodder by rain and dew removes more of the 
soluble sugars from the exterior parts of the plant than anything 
else. The inside of the stalk is practically little affected; the 
tender leaf is much more so. The general injurious influences of 
“weathering” are mainly felt through the moisture received on 
the plant. There is no evidence to show that fodder dead a week 
or 10 days is richer than that cut at denting. In fact, when the 
kernel is in the dent stage, the plant is considered in its best 
condition for harvesting. 
