New York Agricultural Experiment Station. 



531 



The compiarative digestibility of the stover with and without 

 the pith is more readily seen by bringing together the coeflQcients 

 showing the average results. 



Digestibility op Corn Stover. 



Stover with pith ... 

 Stover without pith 



Dry 

 matter. 



Per cent 

 53.5 

 55.1 



Organic 

 maiter. 



Per cent. 

 56.7 

 67.2 



Protein. 



Per cent. 

 16.6 

 20.5 



Fiber. 



Per cent. 

 64.3 

 62.7 



Nitrogen- 



fi>e 

 extract. 



Per cent. 

 56.8 

 56.6 



Fat. 



Per cent. 

 76.2 

 72 



We do not have here any evidence that the removal of the pith 

 of the maize plant materially increases the food value of the 

 remaining portion. One sheep digested moi^ from the stover 

 containing the pith and two digested less, the average being not 

 greatly different in the two cases. 



The real test of the digestibility of a feeding stuff is the digesti- 

 bility of the organic matter, because in the case of such materials 

 as corn stover the accidental mineral matter is a modifying factor. 

 One-half of one per cent more of organic matter was digested from 

 the stover without pith than from that with pith, a difference so 

 small as to be well within the limits of error of such work. 



It is fair to observe that in Patterson's trials the stover and 

 ground products had a similar origin only in one instance, and 

 that in ascertaining the digestibility of the whole stover like that 

 from which the New Corn Product was made, the coefficients 

 obtained for dry matter differed 8.5 per cent with the two animals 

 used, a fact which detracts somewhat from the value of the data. 



II. THE CALCULATION OF THE VALUE OF RATIONS. 



During the past fifteen or twenty years farmers have had their 

 attention directed to the so-called feeding standards, which they 

 have been urged to follow more or less closely in making up 

 rations for various purposes. In order to ascertain whether any 



