422 STATE BOARD OF AGRICULTURE. 



I am under obligations to the Chemical Department over which Dr. Kedzie 

 presides, for the following analyses of samples of the ensilage and fodder corn 

 used in the experiments. 



The corn fodder contained 22.85 per cent of water, the ensilage contained 

 79.60 per cent of water. 



The results of analysis are calculated water free. 



Corn Fodder. Ensilage. 



Cellulose or fiber 32.15 27.75 



Carbo-hydrates (not fat) 52.02 46.42 



Albuminoids (protein) 7.00 7.15 



Ether extract, fat, wax, etc 1.95 1.19 



Ash 6.88 5.49 



Acid 12.00 



100.00 100.00 



The per cent of carbo-hydrates and albuminoids in the ensilage show it to 

 have been of good quality. The per cent of acid seems large; but not larger 

 than some other samples here shown. 



CORN FODDER GROAVK FOR ENSILAGE AND FOR DRIED FODDER. 



The land upon which it was grown was a sandy loam. Bailey's ensilage 

 corn and Chester county corn were grown on the same plat in rows four feet 

 apart, dropped in drills and covered with hoes. It was cultivated four times 

 with a one-horse double-shovel cultivator. It attained a large growth, had a 

 few ears and had become a little brown at the butts of the stalks when cutting was 

 commenced September 12. The filling of the silo being finished September 

 15, it was covered September 16 and weighted with 100 pounds of stone to the 

 square foot. 



The area of corn put in the silo was 211 rods, yielding 46,763 pounds. The 

 dried corn fodder was grown on an area of 64 rods, yielding, when dried, 

 4,350 pounds. This would make the weight of ensilage grown on one square 

 rod 221 pounds, or 35,360 pounds per acre. The yield of dried corn fodder 

 per rod was 68 pounds and 10,880 pounds to the acre. In other words, 3^ 

 pounds of ensilage makes 1 pound of dried fodder. 



The weight of corn in silo — weighed as it was put in September 12, 13, 14, 

 15 — 51,433 pounds. The silo was opened December 15 and each load taken 

 out was carefully weighed and a record kept. Finished the feeding April 1, 

 but a few cubic feet of the ensilage left in the silo at this writing, June 8, 

 seems after the surface is removed in a good state of preservation. The num- 

 ber of pounds weighed out was 44,315. This indicates a loss of 7,118 pounds 

 or about 15 per cent. I estimate the loss in weight of the fodder corn by dry- 

 ing out in the barn about the same as ordinary hay from 15 to 25 per cent. 



The analysis of the fodder corn shows a large per cent of water, although 

 the fall had been quite favorable for curing thoroughly. I have always found 

 difficulty in drying corn fodder so that it could be stored without injury in 

 large quantities. Here is one advantage in storing in a silo : If the work has 

 been properly attended to, cover and weights on, you may be quite certain that 

 the ensilage will come out in good shape. You will be saved the vexation of 

 watching and turning your fodder, unbinding and binding, and seeking out 

 new devices to prevent the fodder corn from moulding, which it is so likely to 



