276 Bulletin 135. 



sample included the stalk and the grain, while of necessity the 

 sample from the plat of sowed corn was only of the stalk, there 

 being little or no grain formed. Care was taken to have the sam- 

 ple from each plat a good average of the produce of the plat. 

 The analysis was made from the 1895 crop and assumed to fairly 

 represent the crop of 1896 grown under similar conditions. 



The following table shows the average yield from the plats 

 for the two years and the estimated food value of each product, 

 the computations being made from the analysis of the 1895 crop. 



A careful study of the table will reveal several things, 

 which without the aid of the chemist might have passed unno- 

 ticed. While the plat of broadcast corn gave the greatest total 

 yield per acre yet little or no grain was formed and the feed value 

 was relatively less than on the plat of corn planted in hills. 

 Though the column giving the estimated value per acre does not 

 necessarily represent the true feeding value yet it does cor- 

 rectly represent the relative value. If the analyses had been car- 

 ried still farther and the proportion of digestible nutrients deter- 

 mined there is but little question that a wider difference would 

 have been shown in the actual feed value. Could the animal 

 have been questioned as to which method of planting furnished the 

 best fodder she would have spoken in unmistakable terms in favor 

 of that corn which was grovv^n in the open sunlight. 



The following quotation from Bulletin 16, Cornell Experiment 

 Station, may be found helpful to an understanding of the tables. 



'' It seems still necessary that an explanation of the terms used 

 should accompany all discussions of foods and fodders, and we 

 may therefore be pardoned for repeating it here. 



The value of a fodder in the main depends upon the amount 

 and relative proportions of four classes of constituents. These 

 are usually denominated by chemists as crude protein (nitrogen 

 multiplied by 6.25), ether extract, nitrogen-free extract, and fibre. 



Protein is the most costly and the most valuable constituent of 

 fodders. Protein substances contain nitrogen and are often called 

 albuminoids or flesh formers. They are found in all parts of all 

 plants and all animals, and are important and indispensable con- 



