GREEN FODDER-CORN, ETC. 



13 



Eighty-two pounds of the dry matter of the ensilage, and 

 eighty-two pounds and three-quarters of the dry matter of 

 the field-cured stalks, now contain the same weight of ash 

 which one hundred pounds of the dry matter of the green 

 corn contained. During the process of field-curing, therefore, 

 four hundred pounds of green corn lost seventeen jDOunds 

 and one-quarter of dry matter, while four hundred pounds of 

 green corn packed in a silo lost eighteen pounds of dry 

 matter. Table No. III. shows further, that neither the field- 

 cured corn nor the ensilage suffered a loss of proteine, fat, or 

 fibre, but that the total loss fell upon the class carbohydrates, 

 which includes sugar, starch, etc., — the least costly ingre- 

 dients of fodders. 



Admitting, now, that quite as much of the dry matter of 

 green corn was preserved, in this experiment, by field-curing 

 as by packing in a silo, there remains still several important 

 questions to be considered, — first, Will cows eat the dried 

 corn-fodder as readily and with as little waste as they will 

 eat ensilage ? second, How does the milk of cows which are 

 fed dried fodder-corn compare in quantity and quality with 

 the milk of the same cows when ensilage is used ? 



A feeding-trial was begun on the sixth day of December 

 for the purpose of studying these questions. Four cows were 

 selected from the herd, placed side by side, fed, watered, and 

 exercised at the same time, and for sixty consecutive days 

 treated in all respects as nearly alike as was possible. 



During the first period of twenty days, all four cows were 

 fed the same daily ration, made up, for each thousand pounds 

 of live weight, of the following substances : — 



The digestibility of the dried corn is here assumed to be 

 the same as green corn. 



