EXPERIMENT STATION BULLETINS. 455 



" The results show that fully half of the valuable dry matter is con- 

 tained in the ears and of this nearly one-fifth is in the cob. The leaves 

 and husks contain from one-fourth to one-third of the total and there is 

 four to five times as much of the remainder in the butts or harder and 

 tougher parts, as in the tops. Thus, when fodder is fed whole, there is 

 more or less waste of the butts by the animal. From our results it would 

 seem that this loss would be from 7 to 22 pounds in every 100 pounds of 

 dry matter. Practical experience has proved that much of this can be 

 saved by cutting up the cured fodder or putting it in the silo." 



Analyses of the different parts of the corn plant at the Wisconsin Ex- 

 periment Station in 1889 show "that nearly 50 per cent of the dry 

 matter, and over 30 per cent of the protein in fodder corn is present in 

 the much neglected stalk. No farmer can afford to allow so large a pro- 

 portion of his crop to be wasted as it is in the present methods of feeding 

 in the field." 



The tables recorded above show conclusively that the leaves of dent and 

 sweet corn and of sorghum contain a very large proportion of the total 

 food constituents of the entire plant. They should be preserved as well 

 as the ears and stalks. Exposure to wind and rain soon destroys the value 

 of these parts of the fodder by destroying the sugar. 



The studies in the changes that take place in the distribution of nutri- 

 ents in the corn plant give us a hint that the total amount of nutriment 

 in an acre of corn is greater at one time than at another. It is important 

 for the farmer to have some guide as to the stage of growth at which his 

 cornfield contains the greatest amount of actual food value. If the corn 

 is to be stored in the silo another question presents itself. It is not 

 enough to know at what stage of growth the corn contains the great- 

 est amount of nutriment unless it is shown at the same time that, if 

 stored in the silo at that stage of growth, there is a relatively less or at 

 least not greater loss by fermentation that would occur had the corn 

 been cut earlier or allowed to become more mature. There are therefore 

 two phases of the question of the time to harvest silage on which experi- 

 ments have ben tried at the Station and which will be discussed in order. 

 First, at what stage of the growth of the corn plant does it contain 

 the largest amount of cattle foods, and second, what differences are there 

 in the losses that occur in the silo due to the stage of ripeness of the 

 corn when cut. 



WHEN DOES CORN CONTAIN THE LARGEST AMOUNT OF NUTRIMENT ? 



One of the chief difficulties in carrying out an experiment to answer a 

 question of this kind is to find areas to be cut at successive intervals 

 which shall be in all respects alike. If in the regular cornfield adjacent 

 areas of equal size are laid aside for the test, then it will be found that 

 differences in the quality of the land, irregular working of the corn 

 planter, unequal distribution of the devastations of grubs and insect 

 pests, and various other causes will have combined to make the number 

 and size of the hills on one area greater or less than on the others. It 

 was decided to compare the corn at four stages of growth: First, when 

 fully tasseled and the silks appearing; second, when just going into the 

 roasting stage; third, when beginning to glaze and going out of the 

 roasting stage, and fourth, when all kernels were fully glazed and some 

 of the ears were dead ripe. An area of something over half an acre was 



