724 



IOWA DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE. 



from ordinary field corn. The best results are obtained with some variety 

 that will give a good yield of grain, and by planting somewhat thicker 

 than for a grain crop. Under average condiitons a larger tonnage of feed 

 can usually be obtained per acre by combining corn, sorghum, and cow- 

 peas or soy beans, but even with this combination the greater part of the 

 crop should be corn. 



Legumes, as clover and cowpeas, have the power, through bacteria 

 on their roots, of utilizing the free nitrogen of the air and storing up 

 within themselves a comparatively large amount of that most necessary 

 constituent of food known as protein. By so doing they not only produce 

 a food rich in protein without exsausting the soil, but enrich the soil 

 by adding to its nitrogen. While they do not benefit the crop they are 

 grown with, they do benefit the succeeding ones. When either peas or 

 beans are grown with the corn and the entire crop is put into the silo, 

 the feeding value is greater, ton for ton, than that of corn alone. This 

 is a much more economical method of obtaining protein than by purchas- 

 ing it in high priced concentrates, as gluten meal, oil meal, etc. 



If cowpeas are planted at the same time as the corn and in the rows 

 with it, they will usually make a fair growth. Since the vines will run 

 up the corn stalks, the entire crop can be cut with the binder the same 

 as corn alone, making practically no extra work in filling the silo. 

 The oniy difficulty in harvesting corn and cowpeas with the corn binder 

 is that, if the corn is missing for a rod in the row, there is nothing to 

 carry the peas back into the binder, and it is likely to clog. Where there 

 is a fairly uniform stand of corn, all can be readily bound together. 

 As the stalks of soy beans are much stiffer than those of cowpeas, no 

 difficulty is experienced in cutting them with the corn. 



INCBEASE OF NUTRIENTS DURING MATURITY. 



It is of great importance to know at what stage corn should be cut 

 to secure the best results, how rapidly nutriment is stored up in the 

 corn plant as it approaches maturity, and when the maximum amount 

 is reached. The following table illustrates this point: 



Tablk 1 . Water and Dry Matter in Corn Crop at Different 

 Periods after Tasseling. New York (Geneva) Station. 



Date of 

 Cutting. 



July 30 

 Aug. 9 

 Aug. 21 

 Sept. 7 

 Sept 23 



Stage of Growth, 



Fully tasseled 



Fully silked 



Kernels watery to full milk 



Kernels glazing 



Ripe 



In the last column is shown the dry matter per acre in corn at dif- 

 ferent stages. When the corn is fully tasseled it contains but eight-tenths 

 of a ton of dry matter par acre, or only one-fifth what it contains when 



