XIV. No. 



THE AGRICULTUKAL NEWS. 





INDIAN CORN. 



COMMERCIAL HANDLING OF MAIZE 

 IN ANTIGUA. 



\ i "|>\ ol .hi important proi-hi iiiation, made by His 

 Excellency the Governor, has jus! b a forwarded by the 



tmenl of Vgriculture from Antigua, which must be 

 ded as marking a decided advance in the attempts which 



for in;in\ months now been mar] o develop the maize 

 industry in the Leeward [stands aii9 elsewhere. The 



ii \ foi gi\ ing consider ition to ii creased produi I 



i corn rest - largelj in I he fad I ii.it the pi ice of 

 and indeed of most foodstuffs, has considerably advanced as 

 a result of the war. It is verj important that dependence 

 on imported f Istuffs should be reduced as much as possi- 

 ble. This 'mi d b) the production of corn undei 



tin- arrangements expounded in the proclamati ridei 



consideration. 



For the pasl nine months experiments have been con 



ducted in Antigua, whirl) have pi d hi ivelj that 



maize grown in that island can be thoroughly dried in a kiln; 

 thai corn so treated will keep in excellent condition for 

 several months; and »ua kiln-dried corn is, in every 



way, as good as. if not better than the com imported from 

 i. 1 1 has al o been proved thai the production of corn 

 meal of excellent quality presents no difficulties. 



Under the eircumsl mces stated above, the < iovernnient 

 lias decided to step in and give the movemenl official support. 



The kiln-drying plant, which was erected in April last, 

 is being extended and improved, and will shortly be in 

 a position to cope with large quantities of grain. The 



Government gra y will deal with corn in either one of 



tlie following ways: ill the co-operative plan; (2) the 

 purchase of com for cash out-right ; (3) the kiln-drying oi 



corn 



Under the co-operative plan, the Government granary 

 will, on and after May 31 next, lie ready to purchase any 

 quantity, Up to 10,000 bushels of maize of good iptality, on 



• ! ; .. ,ii i fixed pri e i I 2*. 6d. pel bushel of shelled grain. 

 .Such a price is believed to co iximately the average 

 cost of production. The grain so bought will be shelled, 

 kiln-dried, and stored. It will gradually be sold by auction, 

 tender, or otherwise, according to local requirements, and to 

 the best advantage. The profits on b transactions, after 

 deducting all expenses, will be divide! into four equal parts. 

 One put will be credited to the grai try, and the remaining 

 three parts will be distributed in due proportion among 

 the various growers who supplied tl rn 



The second plan provides for the lie of corn outright to 



the granary. In such a case a pri' e of 3s. (irf. per bushel 



of shelled corn, of good quality, will •• paidup to June 30 



nid i he granary will nol bind il -elf to purcha i nioi e 



to! I . lantity of 5,200 bushels. It w ill be u 



stood thai the srll.rs of such corn will have laim to 



participate in any profits which tin granary maj mike in 

 dealing with the grain. 



The third plan will meet the di es of growers who do 

 not wish to dispose of thi ir corn, and who only wish to have 

 it dried. The charge for kiln-drying rain will no) be more 

 than 6rf. a bushel, and the Corn shi I Id be removed within 

 three days of delivery. It is possibli , however, thai 



room for such grain will be available at the 

 a moderate cha . 



In lorw ,i , v from « be Ii the abo 



iiiation I til 



■ ry for complel ing the equi] 

 has been order d i roni i i md will, h 



irrive ne month's time. 



MAIZE CONSUMPTION IN DIFFERENT 

 FORMS BY SWINE. 



attention which is being »i i the 



The incre 

 Wesl I tidies to the i on of Indian eon,, a. .; 



raising of p i in article dealii - 



the digestibility of maize in different forms, appeari 

 in for \pril and J ul\ 191 1. 



The authors begin by pointing out that maize, as 

 mil energj producing cereal for meal production, hi 

 the subject of numerous interesting and practical 



ispecially in i ixion with swine. Digestion trials have 



been c lucted with heavj weighl bogs, above twelve i 



old and 200 Hi. in weigh i - with ligh 



approximately eight} days old and weighing aboul 70 1b. 

 The comparative digestibility of n forms, 



namely, whole grain on pod, shelled grain dry, shelled - 

 -naked, ground grain dried, ground gra >aked, has i 



tarefully studied. 



The results obtained indicate that light-weight 



digested whole gi lin on pod and shelled grain re thoi 



•ban did the heavy swine, while the latter utilized the 

 soaked ground grain to better ad' former. 



The lig : ' swim- have the highe 



for whole grain on pod, then dried shelled, dried gt I 

 soaked shelled, and soaked ground grain, respectively; v 

 with the heavy-weights, the soaked .round grain ha 

 highest digestibility, then, successively, dried ground, dried 



shelled, ear, and soaked shelled corn. 



A remarkable correlation between digestibility, and time 

 required for digestion was found, it having been broug 

 notice by observations on the interval between the ing 

 of bone black and it - i inc- in t he fcec is. M n 



was required for the food to pass through the alimi 



.■anal of the light weight swine in case, except the 



soaked ground grain, than was required for this process by 

 the heavy-weights. The former also digested all the prepara- 

 tions, excepting soaked ground grain, more thoroughlj I 

 did the latter. The land of correlation exists :■> 



some degree for each lass f swine. Thus, with the 

 younger swine, the ear corn was mo tible, then dried 



shelled, dried ground, snaked shelled, and soaked ground, ill 



tl rdei mentioned. The ear corn remained longest in the 



digestive tract, then dried ground, dried shelled. - ' 



shelled, and snaked gro nd grain, respectively. Tin 

 swine digested soaked ground inaizi tin o dt mtageously, 

 then dried shelled, dried ground, ear. tnd soaked -helled 

 grain, successively. The -naked ground corn req i 

 ongesl time for traversing the alimentarj tract, then dried 



shelled, ear, dried ground, and soaked shi lied the I i: 

 being equal in this respect. 



Concluding, i; maj be stated that in a a n I way 

 feeding ( i have demons! rated that ligl 



ting less than 200 lb., make the mosl rapid »aii h 



whole corn on cob, in natural state; while heavi 



take the most rapid gains with the soal I and 



1 gro md gi i nis. 



