117 



Yellow Doiit, Pride of the North (C. IJ. seed), White Dent, Wliite Flint, 

 Yellow Cleav^age, Yellow Flint, planted May 8; and Pride of the North 

 (Sibley seed), and Sanford, planted May 14. 



The remainder, with the exception of the Biazilian Flonr corn, which 

 was very iininatnre, were in varions stages of the roasting-ear condi- 

 tion. None were mature enough for best results, though a few ap- 

 jiroached this condition, and perhaps in a warmer and dryer season 

 would have become mature. The results of analysis of all the varieties 

 tested are given in a table. "With a few notable exceptions the varia- 

 tions in the percentage of water constitutes the main difference in com- 

 position." The table quoted herewith gives the average composition 

 of the different classes of corn included in the varieties tested. 



Compoailion of corn of the different classes. 



Dent . 

 Flint . 

 Sweet 

 Pop.. 

 Soft .. 

 Kaffir. 



JS'ntri- 

 tive 

 ratio. 



1: 12.8 



1: 11.7 



1: 11.4 



1: 11.3 



1: 14.1 



1: 8.9 



It will be recalled that the analyses were made of the whole plant as 

 harvested and that the specimens were in different stages of develop- 

 ment, " barely in milk," " in milk, " " roasting-ear," and "mature." In 

 computing the nutritive ratio " the whole of the nutrients instead of 

 merely the digestible portions, are compared." 



From this it appears that "of the three classes, dent, flint, and 

 sweet, the flints have the largest percentage of dry matter and the 

 sweets the smallest ; the sweets have a slightly higher ratio of protein. 

 The dents have somewhat more water than the flints and considerably 

 less protein, but in general they give a much larger amount per acre 

 both of green forage and dry matter." The specimen of Kaffir corn, 

 with a moderate amount of water, has a much higher proportion of pro- 

 tein than the average of the specimens of any of the three classes men- 

 tioned. " It did not, however, make a large growth of green fodder. All 

 things considered, it seems to us that that variety of dent corn which 

 will approach fairly well toward maturity in ordinary seasons in the 

 locality is the best for silage purposes." A third table gives the esti- 

 mated yield in pounds per acre of the green forage, the dry matter, and 

 the several nutritive constituents of all the varieties planted in tenth- 

 acre plats. Omitting two cases in which the seed was inferior, the yield 

 of green forage ranged from 12.8 to 22.1 tons, and that of dry matter 

 from 2.4 to 4.1 tons, the proportions of dry matter varying from 17.4 

 percent in a sample "in the milk" to 30.2 per cent in a "mature" 



