146 



THE BOOK OF CORN 



in the quantity of digestible material produced and in 

 the palatableness of the fodder. Aside from these 

 considerations, the greater certainty and convenience 

 in curing the more mature plants, the mechanical loss 

 of the finer portions due to storms or to the handling 

 of the plants in harvesting when they are too mature, 

 affect in practice, to a considerable degree, the time 

 of harvesting each crop independently of the yield and 

 the palatability of the product. It is also true that in 

 handling large areas of any crop it is not convenient 

 or profitable to arrange for sufficient force of men and 

 machinery to harvest the entire crop in precisely the 

 stage that combines the maximum yield with the 

 highest degree of palatability. Hence the harvest 

 must usually begin at a stage when some sacrifice in 

 yield is made, and extend to the point where loss in 

 palatability is sustained. 



In the case of the corn plant, the impression has 

 long prevailed that after the roasting ear stage is 

 reached, nothing is actually added to the plant, that it 

 then contains all the nutrients it will ever contain ; 

 that the non-nitrogenous compounds then consist 

 chiefly of "sugar," which is to some extent at least 

 converted into indigestible compounds in the process 

 of ripening, and that by allowing it to ripen a loss of 

 digestible material occurs by reason of these changes. 



WATER AND DRY MATTER AT DIFFERENT PERIODS* 



Date of 



cutting 



July 30 



Aug 9 



Aug 21 



Sept 7 



Sept 23 



Stage of growth 



Fully tassel ed 



Fully silked 



Kernels watery to full milk. 



Kernels glazing 



Ripe 



Dry 



matter 

 per 

 acre 



TONS 



0.8 

 1.5 

 2.3 

 3.6 

 4.0 



♦Henry, Feeds and Feeding; from New York (Geneva) station. 



