PRESERVATION OF MAIZE 26 1 



tassel it has reached from one-third to one-half its development, 

 measured in weight of water-free substance. When the plant 

 has reached the roasting-ear stage, three-fourths to four-fifths ot 

 the dry matter has developed, and when in condition to be put 

 into the silo, from three-fourths to nine tenths of its dry matter 

 has developed.^ 



Neither is there any relation between rate of growth in height 

 and the development of water-free substance. The greatest rate 

 of growth in height precedes that of the development of drj- 

 matter. The total yield of grain increases up to full maturity. 

 The yield of the whole plant has in some instances been found 

 to decrease slightly in weight of water-free substance during the 

 last one or t\vo weeks, doubtless due to loss of leaves. The 

 plant, exclusive of the ear, may decrease materially from trans- 

 location of material to the grain. The Iowa Station ^ found a 

 decrease of dry matter in the plant exclusive of the ear to be 

 seventeen per cent of dry matter from the time ears were mostly 

 dented, but leaves and husks all green, until the plant was 

 entirely ripe, requiring a period of three weeks. The circum- 

 stances surrounding the experiment lead to the inference that 

 this loss represents a translocation of material to grain, although 

 it may have been due in part to Joss of material through dropping 

 of leaves or otherwise. 



351 . Influence of Maturity Upon Composition. — In those grasses 

 and other fodder plants in which the proportion of seed to whole 

 plant is small and the seeds are of low digestibility a deteriora- 

 tion in the plant as a food for domestic animals begins before the 

 plant reaches full maturity, both from a translocation of the 

 material to the seeds and the loss of leaves and other finer parts. 

 Analyses under these circumstances usually show an increased 

 percentage of crude fiber and a decreased percentage of protein. 

 When fed to domestic animals, the riper the product is, the less 



* III Bui. 31, p. 361 ; Mich. Bui. 154, p. 283; Cornell BuL 4, p. 52. 



* Iowa BuL 21, p. 778. 



