264 THE CEREALS IN AMERICA 



II. USES AND PREPARATION FOR USE. 



354. Food for Domestic Animals — The chief use of the maize 

 crop is as a food for domestic animals. In connection with 

 grass it is the meat producing material of the United States. 

 The wonderful development of our pork industry is directly 

 related to our maize crop. Sir John Lawes once said that the 

 natural food of the civilized hog was barley meal. Had he 

 lived in America, he would have said that the ears of maize 

 are the natural food of the civilized hog. Maize silage forms 

 an important element in the production of dairy products and 

 its grain is largely used as a food for horses. 



The food value of the grain of maize lies in its high net 

 available energy due to its high percentage of easily digestible 

 carbohydrates and fat and the absence of any deleterious sub- 

 stance. The plant other than the ear, whether green, ensiled 

 or dry, is a palatable and healthful food for horses and rumi- 

 nants, the dry matter being more digestible than that of timothy 

 or clover hay. When properly prepared, the food value of the 

 dry matter is rather less, and when the grain is added, rather 

 more than that of timothy hay. The digestible nutrients in the 

 grain and stover are about as two to one. The proportionate 

 food value, however, is greater in the grain on account of its 

 greater net available energy. 



355. Food for Human Consumption. — While of less relative 

 importance as a food for man, the actual amount of maize thus 

 used is large. In the Southern States, where the proportion of 

 maize to wheat grown is larger than in the Northern States, the 

 grain of maize forms a large portion of the dietary of all classes. 

 The meal, prepared by simply single grinding, either bolted 

 or unbolted, is made into various forms of bread and cakes, 

 without yeast or other leavening processes. Compared with 

 products of wheat flour, the products of maize meal are less 

 digestible, probably on account of the hull and the coarser 



