VOL. LXVII
INDIANAPOL^ AUG. 24, 1912
NO. 34
Save the Corn Fodder
Without a Silo, Baling Will
Get Most Value from Crop.
A NEW    WAY TO  HANDLJE     CORN
FODDER.
By Thomas F. Willoughby.
We are becoming more and more
appreciative of the value of corn fodder.    Perhaps one of the most poteht
in fact, such an outfit proves ideal for
the farmer who has hay and corn fodder to bale and protect from the
weather, corn to shell, feed to grind,
wood to saw, or any of the many jobs
about   the   farm   requiring   power.
We have learned that leaving the
fodder standing for months in the
field wastes a large part of its feeding
value. Three feeding tests conducted
by the Wisconsin Experiment Station
show that nearly 24 per cent of the
feeding value of corn fodder was lost
by  leaving  it  exposed  to  the  weather
plify the problem of protecting it from
the weather but it also makes it much
easier to feed. When ordinary corn
fodder is fed a great deal is wasted
because the cattle or horses cannot
eat it up clean. Therefore, baling it is
an advantage, in that it breaks it up
so that it is more relished by the
stock. They eat it up clean, and consequently there is less waste. This
year the hay crop is going to be very
short in many localities, and undoubtedly there will be a market for baled
corn fodder. The farmer who is
equipped with a press that will quickly and easily bale corn at the least
expense, is in a position to get the full
value out of his corn crop. He can
sell his hay at a high price and still
have good    roughage    in the    form of
may expect three crops of alfalfa the
lirst season and four each year thereafter.
Of course alfalfa must be inoculated
at soving, or soon after ,and it must
be disked or cultivated three or four
times a year, (after it is one year old).
It will do to sow some alfalfa at once,
in the corn field—I am sowing about
six acres now (July 17) in sweet corn
and expect a crop of hay after the
corn is harvested. The clean cultivation of corn makes a good seed bed
for  alfalfa.
T once sowed 18 acres of alfalfa at
last cultivation of corn, (shallow plowing) and the next season I got four
crops of hay from this field. Just now
after such heavy rains as we have had
would  be a good  time to  turn  under
Baling Corn Fodder .Saves the Most of the Crop.
factors in bringing this about is the
high market price of hay. Most of us
find that we can realize more profit
by selling our hay crop than by feeding tt to our own farm animals. We
are able to find a good substitute for
hay in corn fodder. Corn fodder has
not the high market value of hay, but
as a stock feed tt is very nearly as
valuable to the farmer as hay.
It is estimated by authorities that
°ne third of the feeding value of the
corn crop is in the leaves, stalks, and
husks. As this fact is driven home we
are beginning to see that this third of
the corn crop is worthy of more careful protection against damage than it
has in most cases hitherto received.
Of course, the value of a hay press
*or baling corn fodder from the shock
depends to a considerable extent upon
the construction of the press. The
Press with which the above mentioned
work was done was of the motor type;
that is, it is consisted of a bale chamber and a gasoline engine mounted
together on trucks. This type of press
13 especially economical, as it can be
used for baling hay, corn stover, and
any other balable material. When not
ln use as a baler, the engine can be
disconnected from the bale chamber
and an extra pair of trucks placed under the rear end. The engine then
becomes a regular, portable gasoline
engine which can be used for operat-
nS many machines on the farm, such
^s corn shellers, feed grinders, wood
,aw», small threshers, and may be
1Sed to operate a number of smaller
aehines  by   means  of  line  shafting;
in the field. The use of huskers and
shredders which husk the corn and
blow the shredded fodder into the
barn is becoming quite general. Many
of us, however, have not a large
enough corn crop to justify the purchase of a shredder; and. at the same
time are living in localities where custom shredders are few and far between.
At the Corn Show held in Springfield, Ohio, a few months ago there
was shown a number of bales of corn
fodder, which had been baled direct
from the shock. This was a new one
on us, and seemed to offer an excellent
solution of the fodder handling question. The fodder was baled without
being cut up or shredded in anyway;
and yet, when the bales were opened,
the fodder was found to be crushed
and broken up in excellent condition
for feeding. The fact that the fodder
was in this condition is not surprising
if one stops to think of the shearing
of the plunger and the tremendous
pressure  exerted in the bale chamber.
Convenience is one of the most essential features of a press that is to
be used for baling corn fodder. The
bale chamber and feed table must be
low enough for easy feeding. The ac-
companing illustration shows a press
which is particularly well adapted for
baling fodder. It will be noticed that
the self feeder and block setter are
located at the inner end of the bale
chamber, thus leaving a clear feeding
table which makes it very easy to feed
the long stalks of fodder.
Not only does baling the fodder slm-
corn fodder to feed to his own stock,
and if this corn fodder is baled, he
can probably find a good market for it
also.
MORE ABOTJT AliFAJoFA.
Editors Indiana Farmer:
I would like to have some advice as
to this spring's alfalfa crop. I sowed
two and a half acres of second bottom, upon which corn had been grown
for a number of years. We sowed the
seed last year in a good seed bed and
got a splendid stand, but when it was 6
or 8 inches tall the foxtail, smartweed
and a grass began crowding it and I
am afraid lt will be smothered out.
What can I do with it? Can I cut a
crops for hay? I. S. T.
Montgomery Co.
Answered by J. N. Shirley, Marion
County.
The above letter is a typical
one. The ground should have been
broken earlier, and cultivated several
times, to sprout and kill as many
weeds seeds as possible before sowing
the alfalfa. Foxtail is one of the worst
enemies alfalfa has to contend with.
Mowing does very little good, as the
foxtail stools so clone to the ground
that the mower will not kill it.
I suggest that he put the piece in
good order again, and sow cow peas
or soy beans for a crop this year and
after the crop is taken off, I would
disk the ground occasionally, until
late in the fall to kill all weeds that
appear. Early next spring, as early
as the ground is dry enough, I would
disk thoroughly, (not break) harrow
well and  sow  the  alfalfa.     Then  one
some stiff blue grass sod to sow to alfalfa after harrowing nicely. This will
1 ay largely, as the blue grass and alfalfa together, make the best pasture
in the world, and by the time the alfalfa gets a .good start, the blue grass
is starting up also. I don't use a
jointer on the plow to break ground
for this purpose; then the blue grass
starts, sooner. This is the third rainy
week we have had in succession and I
have lost considerable alfalfa hay; but
the second crop is on the way and will
soon be here, so it don't matter much.
I only wish the rest of the field was
cut, so the second crop would have a
chance to do its best. My alfalfa Is
fine, considering its age, and the weeds
it has had to contend with; (no foxtail
however). Fifteen acres was sown
May 6, 7 and 8, 1912, and some of it ia
now forming seed pods; it should have
been cut last week. I have about
four acres to cut yet, and will cut it as
soon as I can get a mower on to the
field, regardless of weather conditions.
What a mistake farmers made last
spring in not disking some of their
wheat land where wheat was winterkilled and sowing to alfalfa instead of
oats, that are now almost destroyed
by the heavy rains. Alfalfa stands up
erect, and you get all of it with tho
mower, and if it does rain to destroy
a crop or two this same rain hurries
on another crop, until four, and sometimes five crops of hay a year are cut;
here in Indiana, too; not in Nebraska
or Kansas, but in Indiana. Don't think
for a minute that Indiana can't raise
anything that Kansas can.
J. N. S.