FOODS ANIMAL PRODUCTION. 



Composition of corn stover and pith. 



477 



Whole stover 



Stover without pith 

 Pith 



Water. 



Per cent. 

 19.81 

 12.21 

 13.27 



Protein. 



Fat. 



Percent. Percent. Percent. 



5.22 3. 19 53.40 



5.24 3.09 53.93 



3. 48 5. 62 52. 77 



Nitrogen 



free 

 extract. 



Fiber. 



Per cent. 

 32. 45 



32. 52 



33. 61 



Ash. 



Per cent. 

 5.68 

 5.22 

 4.52 



"The pith, instead of being nearly pure cellulose, is at least two-thirds something 

 else, and there is no reasou for supposing that the pith of other lots of maize would 

 be essentially unlike this sample." 



A somewhat detailed study was made of the ether extract of the 

 different materials. It was found that corn stover contained 0.82 per 

 cent of carbohydrates soluble in water and 0.21 per cent soluble in malt 

 extract, while the stover without the pith contained 0.61 and 0.29 per 

 cent, and the pith 1.37 and 0.11 per cent, respectively. That is, the 

 proportion of sucrose, starches, and other carbohydrates does not vary 

 greatly in the 3 materials. 



Digestion experiments of 8 days' duration (the first 3 days being pre- 

 liminary) were made with 4 wethers. In one period the 4 sheep were 

 each fed the same amount of corn stover per day, and in another period 

 3 of the sheep were fed the same amount of corn stover without the 

 pith. The experiments were made by the usual methods. The results 

 are shown in the following table: 



Coefficient* of digestibility of corn stover with and without the pith. 



Whole stover: 



Sheep 1 



Sheep2 



Sheep3 



Sheep 4 



Average of 4 sheep 



Stover without pith : 



Sheep 1 



Sheep3 



Sheep 4 



Average of 3 sheep 



Dry 



matter. 



Per cent. 

 53.9 

 54.6 

 52.7 

 52.9 



53. 5 



53.6 

 55.1 



56.7 



Organic 



sub- 

 stance. 



Per cent. 

 56.7 

 58.1 

 56.3 

 55.8 



56.7 



55.3 

 57.2 

 59.0 



Per cent. 

 10. 7 

 17.1 

 16.7 

 22.0 



16.6 



16.5 



28.1 

 16.9 



Per cent. 

 69.0 

 77.4 

 74.2 

 76.3 



76.2 



69.8 

 75.3 



70.9 



Nitrogen - 



free 

 extract 



Per cent. 

 56.5 

 57.6 

 54.5 

 58.8 



56. 



55.7 

 55.5 

 58.5 



Crude 

 fiber. 



Per cent. 

 63.2 

 63.5 

 63.8 

 66.9 



Per cent. 

 7.7 



64.3 



59.6 

 63.1 

 65.5 



21.8 

 15.6 

 14.7 



72.0 



"We do not have here any evidence that the removal of the pith of the maize plant 

 materially increases the food value of the remaining portion. One sheep digested 

 more from the stover containing the pith and 2 digested less, the average being not 

 greatly different in the 2 cases. 



"The real test of the digestibility of a feeding stuff is the digestibility of the 

 organic matter, because in the case of such materials as corn stover the accidental 

 mineral matter is a modifying factor. One-half of 1 per cent more of organic matter 

 was digested from the stover without pith than from that with pith, a difference so 

 small as to be well within the limits of error of such work." 



