526 Report of the? Department of Animal Husbandry of the 



The Experiments at this Station. 



In order to show that the removal of the pith from maize stover 

 is beneficial from a food standpoint it must be demonstrated that 

 the pith either contains compounds directly injurious to the ani- 

 mal or that in its absence the remaining portions of the plant are 

 more fully utilized than would otherwise be the case. 



Certainly the compounds in the outside stalk and leaves are 

 not in any way changed by the presence or absence of the pith. 

 This investigation was directed to two points, therefore, viz.: 

 (1) the oomposition of maize pith as compared with the rest of 

 the plant, and (2) the effect of removing the pith upon the digesti- 

 bility of the leaves and remainder of the stalk. 



The Relation in Weight op Different Parts of Maize Stovek. 



About 200 lbs. of well-eured, bright corn stover, all of which 

 came from the same lot of corn, was selected for the experiment. 

 The leaves and husks were first stripped from one-half of each 

 bundle and then by the use of instruments specially madfe for the 

 purpose the pith was removed from the stalksi. 



The followdng are the weights of the several parts in the air 

 dry condition: 



Weights and Proportion of Parts of Corn Stovkr. 



Leaves nnd husks. 

 .Stalks niiuus pith. 

 Pith 



Weight. 



Grams. 

 25,021 

 9,046 

 3,948 



Pounds. 

 55.0 

 20.7 

 8.7 



Proportion. 



Per cent. 

 65.2 

 24.5 

 10.3 



It appears that the pith constituted about one-tenth of this lot 

 of maize stover. 



The Composition of the Stover and its Various Parts. 



The whole stover from one-half the bundles, and the separate 

 parts of the dissected stover were finely ground in an iron mill 

 and from the thoroughly mixed materials samples were selected 

 for analysis. 



The composition of the whole stover, the stover without the 

 pith and the pith are given below. 



