242 BOARD OF AGRICULTURE. 



acre as in the corn. They are large crops, it is true : so is 

 twenty-five tons of corn-fodder ; and, while I believe more 

 of corn-fodder can be grown per acre than of any of the 

 crops named, yet the cost of it, and especially the expense 

 of putting it into the silo, does not show any economy over 

 the other crops named. Thus it appears to me that the silo 

 does not allow us to extend the area of our fodder-crop. I 

 have, for the past 3'ear, grown twenty-two acres of field-corn 

 on each of two farms, and find no difficulty in caring for it. 

 Here you have the same plant grown thin enough to mature 

 its ear. In either case, the capacity of the corn-plant to 

 extract nourishment from the soil is reached, — the one 

 reaches maturity, the other not. The first has more of the 

 albuminoids and less of less valuable amides. The first has 

 more of sucrose and less of glucose. Several years of 

 exact work with scales have shown me, that, in the stage of 

 growth of field-corn at beginning of glazing, the hay-crop is 

 larger per acre, and per pound more valuable, than that 

 earlier cut. Three years' feeding-trials Avith corn-fodder 

 convinced me, that, as the fodder-crop matured, its feeding- 

 value increased. Mr. Cheever, after years of trial by all 

 methods of raising fodder-corn, told you that he is now best 

 satisfied with raising it for a soiling crop, by the field-corn 

 method. My own experience agrees with his, and convinces 

 me, that, where I can raise twenty-five tons of fodder-corn, I 

 can raise sixty bushels of corn and three tons of fodder. 

 The fodder-corn will contain three tons and a half of organic 

 matter; the field-corn, in round numbers, four tons strong 

 in corn and stover. Those whom I consult say they can 

 raise two bushels of corn and its fodder where they raise 

 one ton of fodder-corn. On this basis there would be no 

 practical difference in the amount of dry matter raised by 

 either system ; and the mature corn, I assume, will be grown 

 and handled the cheaper, and be of greater feeding-value. 



DRYING WASTES — SILO PRESERVES. 



Professor Goessmann, who is recognized as authority upon 

 any matter he will express an opinion about in agricultural 

 science, very fully denied both of these propositions at the 

 Massachusetts Board meeting for 1880 : hence I will not 

 discuss the matter, but merely make a statement or two. It 



