286 STATE BOARD OF AGRICULTURE 



48,830 pownds of ears gave 35,342 pounds of shelled corn, or 27.62 per cent of cobs. 

 In Marcli following the per cent of cobs on the west plots was found to be 19.70. 



The 5o,5.53 pounds of ears harvested on the north plots weighed in March 47.819 

 pounds, a shrinkage of 13.92 per cent. On the west plots the 48.8.30 pounds of ears had 

 shrunk by the next !March to 40.009 pounds, a shrinkage of 10.05 per cent. 



The shelled corn on the north plots weighed 41,399 pounds in October and but 

 38,328 pounds in March, a shrinkage of 7.41 per cent. On the west plots the 35,324 

 pounds of shelled corn shrank to 32,080 pounds, a loss of 7.49 per cent. 



The cobs on the north plot weighed in October 14,154 pounds, and in tlte following 

 March 9,491 pounds, a shrinkage of 32.94 per cent. On the west plots, the cobs 

 weighed in the fall 13,500 pounds, and in the following spring 8,019 pounds, showing 

 a shrinkage of 40.02 per cent. 



Taking the averages of these per cents of shrinkage, we. find that the ears shrank 

 during the winter an average of 15.28 per cent. The shelled corn, 7.45 per cent, 

 and the cobs an average of 30.78 per cent. In absolute number of pounds the cobs 

 lost in weight on the west plots 5,487 pounds, while the shelled corn, while weighing 

 two and one-half times as much, lost but 2,644 pounds, or less than half as great a 

 loss as that sufi'ered by the cobs. In the same way on the north plots, the loss in 

 weight by the cobs was 4,003 pounds, while the shelled corn lost but 3,071 pounds. 



Among the many lessons taught by these figures one certainly is that if a definite 

 number of pounds of corn in the ear is to be recognized as a bushel a wise farmer 

 will sell his crop in the fall. 



OATS. 



Oats when threshed, after passing through the sweating process in the stack or 

 now, appear to shrink but little thereafter. At the Ohio Station in September, 1892, 

 4,243 pounds of recleaned oats were put up in ordinary grain sacks. There were 

 fifty-four varieties in the lot, some of which were in small amounts so that not all 

 of the sacks were full. These oats were kept all winter in a room artifically 

 warmed, and in the following March were again weighed with a loss of only 291^4 

 pounds, or less than 1 per cent. 



At the Michigan Station 100 bushels of oats, 3,200 pounds, were weighed into a 

 bin August 11, 1890, witliout recleaning and within an hour after threshing. They 

 were in fairly drv condition, although they had been wet with ij^in while in the 

 shock. On the 18th of March following they were weighed out and showed a total 

 loss in weight of only seven pounds. 



September 13, 1897, 806 pounds of International oats and 550 pounds of New 

 Marine oats were weighed and placed in a bin in the sheep barn at the College 

 farm. When removed the following March the International oats had shrunk but 

 13 pounds and the New Marine but 11 pounds. 



On the 8th of October, 1899, 1,038 pounds of oats were weighed into a fairly 

 tight bin in the Experiment Station barn, where they remained until the 10th of 

 May, 1900, when they weighed but 1,003 pounds, showing a shrinkage of 3.4 per cent. 



HAY. 



Hay, when put in the mow, varies greatly in the amount of moisture it contains, 

 depending on the weather in which it is cured. In the dry climate of the west the 

 shrinkage is usually smaller than in a comparatively humid climate of the eastern 



At the Kansas Experiment Station, in 1888, 13 kinds of hay were put in muslin 

 bags and buried in mows of hay from four to six months. The shrinkage averaged 

 4.5^ per cent, ranging from a 14 per cent loss to a gain of 3 per cent. 



At the Michigan Station, on the 27th of June, 1890, five tons of very dry timothy 

 hay was dra\vn from the field and, after weighing, was placed in the barn in a 

 mow, separated from the rest of the hay in the barn. It was later temporarily covered 

 with grain in the straw. Six months later, on the 26th of January, it was removed and 

 found to have lost 684 pounds, or nearly 7 per cent. 



Again, on the 6th of July, 1898, 5,600 pounds of timothy hay, in good condition 



