EXPERIMENT STATION BULLETINS. 241 



profit in expending human labor to gather and preserve the butts of 

 the corn stalks except for manure. When shredded, the corn stalks 

 may be used as an absorbent and thus come properly in the manure 

 although containing but a small per cent of either nitrogen, phosphoric 

 acid or potash. 



An extended series of experiments and observations revealed the fact 

 that whereas but 35.70% of the total weight of the corn plant was resi- 

 dent in the ears. 4(5.32% of the dry matter was found in the ears, 31.91% 

 in the stalks and 21.77% in the leaves. The total protein content was 

 distributed 50.(50% in the ears, 32.30% in the leaves and 17.10% in the 

 stalks. On the other hand when it comes to the ash it was found that 

 just half of all the ash material in the entire plant was found in 

 the leaves, 32.00% in the stalks and but 17.40% in the ear. The ears 

 contain but 1.75% of ash, while on September 14, the leaves contain 

 10.92% of ash. Here is a reason for feeding the leaves and ears together. 

 The statement so often made that shelled corn is weak in ash seems 

 therefore abundantly justified. 



Corn silage has been used as the basis of the dairy ration at the ex- 

 periment station for years. The cows are universally fond of it and 

 have eaten it to the full amount allowed. Very little, if any, refuse 

 was left in the mangers. The milk from the silage fed cows has been 

 sold to fastidious consumers and no fault has been found with the flavor. 

 On certain occasions the milk has been sealed immediately after milk- 

 ing, and opened later in the presence of critical judges but it has not 

 been possible to detect the difference between the milk n;ade from 

 silage and from dry feed. The butter made from silage fed cows has 

 been of excellent quality, of the right consistency and body and free 

 from any unpleasant flavor, traceable to the silage. This has been true 

 although no special pains have been taken to ventilate the barn prior 

 to milking. 



Corn silage has been far from uniform in composition. That taken 

 from the same silo the same year, made from the same corn and en- 

 siloed at the same time has varied in water content from 68.62% of 

 water on December 10 to 79.63% on the 24th of March following when 

 the bottom of the silo was approached. 



It was interesting to note in still another series of experiments that 

 the per cent of protein in the silage increased as the distance between 

 rows and hills in the corn field was increased. Where the corn was 

 planted very thick the per cent of protein was as low as .98. When the 

 rows were 14 in. apart the per cent rose to 1.06. When the distance 

 apart of the rows was double, 28 in. apart, the per cent rose to 2.55. 

 The teaching of the experiment was plain, that although drilling the 

 corn very thick means a large crop as far as gross weight is concerned, 

 it also means a low per cent in protein. 



In the same series of experiments sorghum was compared with silage 

 corn for the silo. When harvested the yield of green fodder per acre 

 on the part of the sorghum was 38,676 lbs. while the gross w^eight of 

 the silage corn was but 29,684 lbs. The materials were analyzed and 

 the results showed that the yield of dry matter per acre were 8,655 lbs. 

 for the silage corn and but 7,700 lbs. for the sorghum. This was true 

 31 



