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"How can I best feed my corn to increase its feeding value?" has been a leading question with thousands of farmers for years. The idea of marketing the grain on the hoof in the form of beef or pork, instead of in a bag, is not a new one, but while corn is conceded to be the greatest of all meat-forming cereals, there is something lacking. In order to secure this something, the farmer mixes with his corn some concentrated feed such as cottonseed meal, linseed meal, blood meal, gluten meal or gluten food. The element lacking in raw corn is nitrogen, commonly termed "protein." Protein is necessary to form bone, muscle, lean meat, tissue, the hair on animals and the feathers on fowls. It is most difficult to grow economically, hence the use of concentrated feeds which contain from two to four times as much protein as corn in its raw state. The corn and other grains fed in connection with these concentrated feeds form what is known as the "balanced ration," the value of which was discovered in 1864 by Dr. Emil von Wolff, the eminent German scientist, who published, for the first time, standards based upon the digestible nutrients of feeding stuffs. It was Dr. Wolff's idea to determine the feeding ration that would supply in the correct proportions the carbonaceous, nitrogenous and fatty elements necessary to secure the best growth and development of our farm animals, without the waste of any of the nutrients. Farmers did not take kindly to the idea at first,—"nothing can improve corn," they said; but the agricultural colleges proved that Dr. Wolff's methods were not only practical, but absolutely necessary to insure the greatest profit in the development of young, growing animals, and finishing cattle, hogs and sheep for market. To-day, thousands of progressive farmers use, and understand the value of, the "balanced ration," but, large as the growth of the idea appears, it is nothing compared with what the future will bring forth. The work of Dr. Wolff, aided by our own scientists, has been worth millions of dollars to the American farmer, and these millions will be increased tenfold as the adoption of the balanced ration grows apace. When the hot winds of the summer of 1891 seared the growing corn and destroyed a large portion of the crop, the farmers and feeders were confronted with the most serious problem in the history of their business. A short corn crop, no grass, and a heavy demand for beef and pork, brought them face to face with an almost insurmountable difficulty, unless they could feed the grain then rapidly advancing in price, at a profit. Farmers who had adopted the balanced ration began to think and figure more closely as to the probable value of concentrated feeds,—which of them contained the highest percentage of digestible protein,--which of them would produce the greatest gains in flesh for the amount of feed consumed? This serious study of the feeding question has undoubtedly resulted in greater progress and enlightenment during the year 1892 than in the previous ten years combined. People who talk about the beef trust and complain about trust prices, have not the remotest idea of the trials and tribulations of the man who produces the beef. One of the greatest evils with which the farmer has to contend is the patented, medicinal stock-foods, manufactured at a cost of less than $30 per ton, and sold at prices ranging from $150 to $200 per ton, or more. These mixtures usually consist of the cheapest of mill feeds, such as bran, low grade corn meal, wheat middlings, etc., to which has been added a small amount of sulphur, Epsom salts, charcoal, fenugreek and other drugs. The manufacturers claim that these mixtures will not only promote digestion and increase the appetite, but will cure every ill that the animal is heir to; the same mixture that is recommended to cure gapes in fowls is also recommended to cure hog cholera, and guaranteed to make cows give more milk. The makers of the so-called foods with all the force of the English language at their command, played upon the credulity of the farmer to such an extent that thousands bought heavily, hoping to make their corn crop of 1901 last longer and fatten the stock quicker, but in a majority of cases the result was the opposite from what was expected. Other disturbers of the farmers' tranquillity were the scarcity of feed, and the high prices of animals suitable for finishing at a profit. In January, 1901, the question of feeding cattle in such a way that would net the farmer a profit became almost a national issue. To settle the question of feeds, and especially medicinal stock foods, the Iowa College of Agriculture decided to plan and conduct a feeding test that would determine the feeding value of the various concentrated feeds, as well as the several makes and brands of stock foods on the market. It was the idea of its promoters to make this test the most extensive of its kind. There had been numerous other tests, but all had been on such a small scale as to be of no practical value to the farmer. The test as planned was carried to a successful termination on a famous Western farm. From a herd of over 700 range steers, 220 representative animals were selected, and all were of as uniform quality as it was possible to get them. The bunch of 220 was divided into eleven lots of 20 head each placed in separate feed lots under conditions such as can be secured on any farm in the corn belt. Wheat straw was the "roughness," and corn the only grain fed throughout the entire test. Lot No. 1 received a daily ration of corn and wheat-straw; the other lots were fed on concentrated feeds and medicated stock foods, as follows: Lot No. 2, linseed oi1 meal; lot No. 3, cottonseed meal.; lot No. 4, gluten meal; lot No. 5 gluten feed; lot No. 6, germ oil meal; lot No. 7. blood meal; lot No. 8, Iowa stock food; lot No. 9, International stock food; lot No. 10, Standard stock food; and lot No. 11, corn and green Pasture. The feeding test extended over a period of 94 days. The steers had previously been fed a partial grain ration for several months, and were just good average animals. At the conclusion of the test the cattle were sold on the Chicago market, and the results published by the Iowa experimenters in an official bulletin. In the table of profits as given by the bulletin, a wide variation is shown; the rations of gluten meal, and corn and wheat straw, returned a net profit of $3.50 per steer, more than was returned by the ration of corn and wheat straw alone; the gluten feed and corn returned a net profit of $3.11 more than the straight corn ration. The medicated stock foods proved to be a detriment to the feed of corn, the net profit, per steer, being from $1.40 to $8.16, less than was returned by the straight corn ration. There was an advantage of 97 cents per steer in feeding dried blood, 48 cents in green pasture, and 36 cents, in oil meal. Cotton-seed meal resulted disastrously; after 42 days, several of the steers died suddenly, and the rest went blind and were marketed. The test further proved that corn worth around 60 cents per bushel on the open market, actually returned a net value of 93 cents per bushel, when fed alone; $1.04 per bushel, when fed in connection with gluten meal; and $1.03 per bushel, when balanced with gluten feed, but the value was reduced 21 and 22½ cents per bushel, when the medicated stock foods were used. Professor W. J. Kennedy, vice director of the Iowa station, and instructor in Animal Husbandry, originated the experiment and with the aid of his assistants, Professor F. R. Marshall and R. J. Kinzer, a graduate student, had entire charge of the work. All are young men, yet in the"twenties," and are enthusiastic in their work of teaching the farmer how to feed along scientific (common-sense) lines. Professor Kennedy says that this was undoubtedly the greatest feeding experiment ever undertaken in this or any other country. It proved that no matter how high or low the price of corn may be, its value may be increased by adding the by-products of the grain known as gluten meal and gluten feed. The farmer may now sell a portion of his corn crop, feed these "concentrates" liberally, and not only save a part of the money made by the sale of his own corn, but realize a greater profit from his fat cattle. This, though astonishing, is nevertheless a fact. In the march of scientific progress, the farmer has received a good share of the benefits. Corn, the most versatile of all our farm crops, is made to yield nearly 100 separate and distinct products, of great value to art and science. Of these by-products gluten meal is made by first soaking the grain; then, by mechanical devices, the different parts of the kernel are separated. First the germ is taken out, and then the bran, which is the husk of the corn, is separated from the gluten and starchy portions; the gluten and starch are then separated by a filter process; the starch, being the heavier, sinks to the bottom, while the gluten runs off, and is kiln-dried and ground into meal. Gluten feed is a mixture of gluten meal and fancy corn bran. Both of these products are highly concentrated and contain a high percentage of digestible protein, the element lacking in raw corn. The farmer can buy in one ton of either of these feeds, as much flesh material as there is in three tons of corn, and at, practically, the same price that a single ton of grain will cost. Prominent feeders throughout the West consider the Odebolt test the greatest achievement in the history of the cattle industry. HOW GLASS IS MADE TO-DAY |