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About The Conservative (Nebraska City, Neb.) 1898-1902 | View Entire Issue (June 15, 1899)
I Conservative * FI2KD1NG VAMJE OF COKN STOVKU. [ By J. B. Lindfloy , Ph. D. , of tlio Massachusetts Hutch Experiment Station , Amherst , Mass. ] Corn or maize stovor may bo cleflucd as that part of the com plant remaining after the matured ears have been re moved. The name is meant to include the entire stalk , leaves and husks. In 1895 the farmers of the United States planted about eighty-two million acres of land with Indian corn , which would yield about ninety million tons of field-cured corn stover. Supposing this stover to have the average feeding value and to be properly cured and housed , it would feed all the milch cows , oxen and other cattle in the whole country for , approximately , one-fourth to one-third of a year. It is therefore of the utmost importance that the farmer should have a thorough understanding of the com position , digestibility , and practical feeding value of this fodder stuff. Composition of Corn Stover. While , from causes to be mentioned hereafter , corn stover varies more or less in quality , the average of a large num ber of analyses shows it to contain its several constituents in the following proportions : Whole stover , Cunstituunt. field cured. Per cent. Water 40.1 Ash IU Fiber 1.7 ! ) Fat 11 Protuin ! i.8 Nitrogen-free extract. 1)1.0 ) Total. 100.0 Corn stovor varies very much in the amount of water it contains. When brought under cover with fairly good weather for curing , it will contain from 80 to 40 per cent of water. After it has remained under cover for two or three mouths , if it is loosely packed , consider able water will have dried out , reducing the percentage to 20 , below which it rarely goes. In order to compare the composition of one coarse fodder with another , it is customary to leave water out of the cal culation , comparing the actual dry mat ter only. This has been done in the preceding table. For comparison , the average composition of timothy hay is also shown. It will bo seen that there is a very close correspondence between the whole stovor and its various parts , the only essential difference , aside from the ash , being that the leaves contain some what less fiber and more protein , and , other things being equal , they should be slightly more valuable as a source of nourishment. The whole stover shows a composition practically identical with that of timothy hay. The fiber and' nitrogen-free extract of a fodder are frequently classified together under the name of carbohydrates , per forming the same functions in the pro cess of nutrition , namely , the production of animal heat , energy , and fat. Corn stover , containing fully 80 per cent of such substances , may well be termed a carbonaceous or starchy feed. A feeding stuff is valuable as a source of nourishment only RO far as its various parts can bo digested and assimilated by the animal. A chemical analysis shows the total amounts of constituents mak ing up the feeding stuff , but this alone does not show the ultimate vnluo of the material as a source of food. For this , knowledge of the proportion of the con stituents digested is necessary. * The following figures show the percentages of the different constituents which the average animal is able to digest from the whole stover and its several parts , and from , timothy hay and oat straw for comparison : Digestibility < > f Corn Stover , Water-free substance. No direct tests have over been made to compare the digestibility of stover from different varieties of corn and in different stages of maturity. Experi ments , however with the entire plant stovor and ears indicate that the largo , coarse varieties are rather less digestible than the small and medium kinds. The figures as presented in the above table show that the entire stover , as well as its several distinct parts , is exceedingly well digested. The protein of the sev eral separate parts shows a rather poor digestibility. This is always the case when feeds very rich in carbonaceous substances ( nitrogen-free extract and fiber ) are fed alone. When supple mented by nitrogenous feeding stuffs , the digestibility of the protein would undoubtedly be increased. The figures also show that the whole corn stover and its separate parts are rather more digestible than timothy hay , and decid edly more so than oat straw. A calculation of the amounts of the several digestible ingredients in 1 ton of well-cured stover with 20 per cent of 'Farmers' Bulletin No. 22 , U. S. Department of Agriculture. ; ) | -C water and in 1 ton of timothy hay gives the following result : Amounts of Digestible Ingredients in 1 Toil of Stover and 1 Ton of Timothy Hay. Assuming that an acre of laud planted to corn will yield , in addition to the ears , 2 tons of stovor , and that an acre equally well cultivated will produce % X tons of timothy hay , a simple calcula tion shows that the stovor will contain about 1,080 pounds and the hay 2,111 pounds of digestible food ingredients. Taking into consideration the average Oat Straw , and Timothy Hay. in the process of curing , it would prob ably be safe to assume that the stover from an acre of land will furnish on the average , approximately , as much digest ible matter as the timothy hay from a similar area. Losses of Corn Stover. In many sections of the country the idea seems to prevail that the stover has comparatively little feeding value. In different localities veiy different meth ods of harvesting are followed. In some sections the corn is topped above the ear and the leaves below the ear stripped off , while the stalk below the ear is re garded as of little or no value and is allowed to go to waste. Again , many farmers leave the entire stover uncut in the field , and in the late autumn or winter turn the cattle in and let them eat what they will , the idea being that this is cheaper than harvesting it. That such methods are very wasteful must bo clear to everyone. Reliable experi ments teach that of the entire corn stover the portion above the ear ( tops ) contains 27 per cent of the total digest ible matter , the blades below the ear , 18 per cent ; the husks , 20 per cent , and the stalks below the ear , 84 per cent. By leaving the stalks below the ear in the field , one-third of the entire feeding value of the stover is lost. Again , if the stover is not cut till very late , the leaves dry up and are blown away by the winds. Conditions Affecting the Value of Stover. The value of the stover varies to quite an extent , according to time of cutting , If '